The question of how the United States should defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion is a pressing one. Taiwan's position at the heart of the first island chain would make Chinese occupation a pivotal strategic moment. Not only would occupation of Taiwan allow the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) unfettered access to the Pacific, it also would allow China to turn Japan's southern flank and dominate key sea lines of communication—potentially undercutting the U.S.-Japan alliance.1 U.S. planners contemplating Taiwan's defense must contend with an evolving Chinese antiaccess/area-denial (A2/AD) system that, coupled with the broader modernization of the PLA, threatens to give China local conventional overmatch in any scenario involving Taiwan.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/february/win-urban-war-taiwan

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