China not ready to invade at the moment, says Taiwan

China lacks the ability to fully invade Taiwan but is developing hypersonic weapons and other methods to threaten the island, Taipei's defence ministry has warned.

- ALEXANDER BUTLER

In an annual threat assessment of China, Taiwanese officials said Beijing would not yet be able to invade the island due to difficulties posed by traversing the Taiwan Strait and the army’s lack of landing equipment.

But China is speeding up development of a slew of new weapons, such as the H-20 bomber and hypersonic missiles, beefing up the number of nuclear warheads and trialling new tactics, the ministry said.

China, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.

The report added China could increase the inspection of foreign cargo ships as a way of cutting off Taiwan’s communication with the outside world.