Washington: China has significantly enhanced its military capabilities, enabling it to potentially blockade or invade Taiwan with minimal advance warning, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). The assertion was made in the USCC's 2025 Annual Report to Congress, highlighting a crucial phase in China's ongoing efforts to assert sovereignty over Taiwan.
According to Focus Taiwan, the report indicates that China's advancements are moving swiftly towards the capability to forcefully take Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China could reportedly implement a blockade in a matter of hours, as cited by U.S. and Taiwanese military officials. The report further elaborates on China's escalating pressure campaign against Taiwan, involving military threats, economic coercion, and influence activities.
The USCC detailed that Beijing's information warfare efforts are aimed at deepening political divisions within Taiwan and creating uncertainties in Taiwan-U.S. relations, particularly concerning policies on Ukraine, tariffs, and semiconductors. Notably, PLA incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone have dramatically increased, as well as espionage activities and international support for Beijing's "One China principle."
Taiwan has been responding to these threats by bolstering its military deterrence and resilience through enhanced military exercises and accelerated asymmetric defense capabilities. USCC Vice Chair Randall Schriver emphasized China's destabilizing actions, pointing out recent advancements in China's military arsenal, including the deployment of self-propelled landing barges and hypersonic anti-ship missiles.
Schriver expressed concerns about China's increasingly aggressive activities in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, warning that these actions elevate the risk of miscalculations leading to larger conflicts. He also highlighted China's alignment with other authoritarian regimes, forming an "axis of autocracies" with countries like Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
During the report's release, Schriver addressed the potential for Taiwan to participate in the U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), advocating instead for more focused U.S.-Taiwan training and potential expansion into multilateral exercises with partners such as Japan and the Philippines. The USCC urged Congress to engage the U.S. Department of State in strengthening U.S. and Taiwanese military cooperation through non-weapon support services to bolster deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region.