Taipei replica in remote Chinese province fans Taiwan invasion fears
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China seems to have created a mock-up of Taipei’s presidential district to use the site as a training ground to prepare for a future invasion of Taiwan.
Satellite images verified by FRANCE 24 reveal that China has built this replica of Taipei’s presidential district in remote Inner Mongolia.
The satellite images show a detailed replica of the heart of Taipei – albeit surrounded by the arid landscape of Inner Mongolia instead of Taiwan’s lush vegetation.
First posted on social media by a Taiwanese data analyst, on March 26, they were later picked up by the website Taiwan News, under the ominous headline: “China creates Taipei mockup to train for invasion”.
FRANCE 24 was able to verify the existence of the mockup, located some 1,200 kilometres west of Beijing.
Sim Tack, an analyst at intelligence firm Force Analysis, which monitors conflict zones and has access to satellite imagery, said construction of the replica began in March 2021 and lasted approximately one year.
He said the site features buildings and façades “that are inspired by what you can see in Taipei, without having exactly the same size or shape”.
The satellite images reveal a layout of streets strongly resembling the Bo’ai Special Zone, a restricted area in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District that houses Taiwan’s most important state buildings, including the presidential palace, the supreme court, the ministry of justice and the central bank of Taiwan.
The Bo’ai Special Zone is subject to specific regulations, including a strict ban on overflight.
Beijing considers Taiwan a part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to assert control over the island. Under President Xi Jinping, it has stepped up its pressure on the self-governing island, mounting a series of incursions by fighter jets into Taiwan’s airspace in autumn 2023.
The existence of a training site to rehearse a potential attack on the presidential palace in Taipei is a stark reminder of the geopolitical tensions in the region, and of the threat weighing on Taiwan.
Experts note that Taiwan has faced this type of intimidation before, most notably in 2015, when the Chinese military produced an almost exact replica of the presidential palace in Taipei, at a separate site in Inner Mongolia.
Analysts say China is unlikely to go to such lengths merely to send a signal to Taiwan and its own population. Unlike in 2015, they note, the latest release of satellite images from Inner Mongolia is not Beijing’s own doing. In fact, the Chinese military has been considerably more discreet this time.
And while the replica of the Bo’ai Special Zone “may indeed serve propaganda purposes”, experts argued, the most likely explanation is that “its primary purpose is military”.
The new Taipei mockup is very detailed, meaning it could be used for two distinct military scenarios, the first of which involves an aerial bombardment of the Bo’ai area – or what the Taiwan News website described as a “decapitation strike on Taipei”.
Such an operation would be extremely complex to mount given the high quality of Taiwan’s air defences though adding that “an aerial attack remains the most rapid option to invade the island”.
The other scenario involves a land invasion of the island, located roughly 100 miles (160 kilometres) off the coast of southeastern China.
