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China continues to show off its strength as it grows its naval power at a breakneck pace.
The number of naval vessels has already overtaken the United States in 2020, and it is predicted that this gap will widen even more with each passing year.
Recently, a simulation showed that if a war broke out in Taiwan, both the US and China would suffer enormous damage close to annihilation.
Reporter Kwon Hee-jin covered the story.
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The Chinese Navy’s transport ships, like aircraft carriers, ply the sea with battleships on deck.
The middle part of the ship can be sunk into the sea, moored there, and the deck raised again to load a larger ship.
The ship can be used as a dock on the sea, allowing you to service or repair your battleship right on the spot.
The Chinese Navy is rapidly growing in strength.
The US Department of Defense estimates that the number of Chinese warships, which have already overtaken the US since 2020, is now around 340, about 50 more than the US.
It is predicted that the number of battleships will reach 440 by 2030, and the numerical gap with the United States will widen even more every year.
The United States has a strategy of making up for its numerical inferiority with state-of-the-art technologies such as unmanned battleships and unmanned submarines, but the US Naval War College recently published a thesis stating that technology cannot overcome numerical inferiority.
As a result of analyzing 28 historical naval battles, it was found that the side with the most battleships won most of them in naval battles that did not have a fixed frontline unlike land.
[류성엽/ 21세기군사연구소 전문연구위원]
“There is still a view in traditional maritime strategy that size will ultimately determine the outcome of an engagement.”
In the midst of this, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Wu Zhao-she reiterated in a recent media interview that China could invade Taiwan in 2027.
The Taiwanese military conducted a large-scale joint military exercise ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
[유진 리/대만군 여단장]
“We are perfectly prepared for any provocation by the Chinese military ahead of the Lunar New Year.”
The US think tank Institute for International Strategic Studies released earlier this month the results of a war game simulating the Taiwan war.
Unlike the previous results, in which the US mostly lost, if Japan entered the war in earnest, the US-Japan allied forces would be in a mess and barely defend Taiwan.
[장영희/성균중국연구소 연구실장]
“This time, we decided to actively involve Japan. Japan will go with us now. If that happens, we will win. (There is a message like this)”
Korea’s role is not included in this scenario.
U.S. Navy Chief of Staff Michael Gilday said on the 13th that military cooperation between South Korea and Japan is essential for the United States to confront the Chinese navy.
At the same time, he even expressed that the fact that Korea and Japan are experiencing discord because of history is an act of stabbing each other in the eyes of each other by overlooking the security threat in Northeast Asia.
It was confirmed again in what interests the United States views the historical issues of Korea and Japan.
This is MBC News Kwon Hee-jin.
Video editing: Jang Dong-jun
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