Taiwan panic as China hints it's ready to launch full-scale invasion as WW3 fears erupt

China's navy takes part in a drill at sea (Image: Getty)

China's army is more capable than ever before of launching a full-scale invasion of Taiwan, military experts believe. Beijing has long eyed reasserting its full control over the state, with President Xi Jinping signalling many times he is not afraid to use force to realise his political ambition.

To ram home the message, China's army (PLA) has stepped up military exercises in preparation for a possible invasion. Taiwan defence officials told the Financial Times that the PLA is holding continuous training sessions for its amphibious forces near departure points that would be used in an invasion of the island.

President Xi Jinping is determined to retake Taiwan (Image: Getty)

They claimed that the PLA would only need "minimal conversion time" to launch an attack.

Moreover, Beijing has put its army aviation units on a state of constant readiness and deployed a new rocket system capable of striking any target in Taiwan.

Chinese air force and missile units had also already reached a point where they could “switch from peacetime to war operations any time”, according to a senior military official.

The military official's comments strike a chord with a warning issued by the head of the US Indo-Pacific command in February.

Admiral Samuel Paparo told journalists that China was "very close" to the point where the “fig leaf of an exercise” could mask preparations for an attack.

In the past year, Beijing has stepped up military pressure near Taiwan, sending warships and planes almost daily into the waters and air space around the island.

PLA warplanes enter Taiwan’s air defence identification zone more than 245 times a month, compared with fewer than 10 a month five years ago.

China's Navy has deployed roughly a dozen ships around Taiwan, according to US defence officials.

Their presence would allow Beijing to enforce a blockade in a matter of hours, as well as launch an air assault without warning.

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's claims to sovereignty and says only its people can decide their future.

However, in a speech to mark China's New Year celebrations this year, Xi insisted that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were "one family".

"No one can sever our family bonds, and no one can stop the historical trend of national reunification," he said.