China’s Expanding Missile Arsenal Raises Alarm Over Taiwan

• China’s Rocket Force stockpile has grown by nearly 50% in four years, reaching 3,500 missiles.
• Advanced Dongfeng-17 and Dongfeng-26 missiles are now deployed at expanded coastal bases.
• Analysts warn the buildup signals nuclear risks in any Taiwan conflict involving U.S. forces.

China has rapidly expanded its missile arsenal, nearly doubling launchpad capacity along its eastern seaboard and amassing about 3,500 missiles, according to the report by Taipei Times.

New Capabilities

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force is fielding more Dongfeng-17 hypersonic missiles and Dongfeng-26 systems, the latter nicknamed the “Guam express” for its ability to strike U.S. bases in the Pacific. Satellite images show Brigade 611 in Anhui Province has doubled in size, now deploying DF-26s. The Pentagon estimates China has around 500 of these dual-capable missiles.

Brigade 616 in Jiangxi Province has also expanded and is being prepared for DF-17s, the report said.

Missile Buildup and Taiwan Tensions

China’s missile buildup is part of a broader strategy to deter U.S. intervention and pressure Taiwan into unification. Since the mid-1990s, when Beijing fired missiles into waters near Taiwan to intimidate voters ahead of elections, the Rocket Force has been central to its military posture.

The pace accelerated after the 2001 U.S. sale of Patriot missile defenses to Taipei and again following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which reinforced Chinese fears of a long, high-tech conflict with Western powers. Today, the PLA Rocket Force is tasked not only with striking Taiwan’s air bases and ports but also with threatening U.S. forces stationed in Japan, Guam, and beyond.

Strategic Warnings

Missiles are “the starting point for any type of military coercion campaign that China would use against Taiwan,” said Jennifer Kavanagh of the U.S. research group Defense Priorities.

Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, warned:

“If there is a Taiwan conflict, particularly if there’s some level of U.S. involvement or the threat of U.S. involvement, then from the start it has a nuclear dimension.”

Limits and Vulnerabilities

Despite the buildup, the New York Times noted that corruption may have compromised some of China’s new nuclear silos, citing a Pentagon assessment.