Analysis: China could take Taiwan, but at an extremely bloody price

Biden’s comments, which compared a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan to And the civilian carnage could be far, far worse. Taiwan’s population of 24 million people is packed into dense urban areas like the capital Taipei, with an average of 9,575 people per square kilometer. Compare that to Mariupol, Ukraine — devastated in the war with Russia — and with an average of 2,690 people per square kilometer.Despite its numerical advantages in sea-, air- and land-based forces in the region, China has Achilles heels in each arena of war that would force Beijing to think long and hard about whether an invasion is worth the overwhelming human cost.Here are some scenarios of how a Chinese invasion might play out: The naval warChina has Getting a force of that size across the 110 miles (177 kilometers) of the Taiwan Strait would be a long, dangerous mission during which those vessels carrying the troops and equipment would be sitting ducks.”The thought about China invading Taiwan, that’s a massacre for the Chinese navy,” said Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.That’s because Taiwan has been stocking up on cheap and effective land-based anti-ship missiles, similar to the Neptunes Ukraine used to sink the Russian cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea in April.”Taiwan is mass-producing these things. And they’re small, it’s not like (China) can take them all out,” O’Brien said.”What’s cheap is a surface-to-ship missile, what’s expensive is a ship.”Any other option?Of course, the PLA has options other than a full-blown invasion. 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