U.S. Intelligence Warns China’s Ferry Fleet Built for Taiwan Invasion

• Classified DIA report says China is rapidly building ferries modified for amphibious operations.
• More than 70 large vessels are due by 2026, capable of transporting tanks and troops.
• Taiwan calls the buildup proof of Beijing’s “expansionist intentions.”

A classified U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report has warned that China’s expanding commercial ferry fleet is being prepared for a potential invasion of Taiwan, ABC News reported.

Amphibious Capabilities

The ferries have been modified to carry armored vehicles and operate with new landing docks along China’s southern coast. Satellite images show them participating in PLA exercises. U.S. intelligence assesses the ships could be targeted in wartime, even with civilian crews aboard.

Taiwan’s Concerns

Douglas Hsu, Taiwan’s representative to Australia, told ABC:

“We are also seeing increasing grey-zone tactics … to weaken Taiwan’s democracy and society, such as cyber attacks. Civilian vessels or other dual-use facilities in the maritime domain are also part of China’s strategy.”

Satellite Imagery Reveals Preparations

Hu Bo, director of the Center for Maritime Strategy Studies at Peking University, called the U.S. report a “naked threat” but acknowledged preparations:

“It’s common sense that China is preparing for a Taiwan crisis. This does not mean China will do something quickly in the future. Preparation is not the same as intention.”

China considers Taiwan its territory, and any military effort to retake the island as a legitimate effort at reunification.

A satellite photo shows three interconnected barges and a ‘ro-ro’ ferry near the shore of Zhanjiang. (Supplied: Planet Labs)

US Concerned Over Preparations

The U.S. intelligence community believes Xi Jinping has ordered the PLA to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027. The ferry fleet helps address one of Beijing’s biggest challenges: moving large numbers of troops and equipment across the Taiwan Strait.

The landing docks photographed earlier this year during sea trials.

What Do the Images Show?

The images were picked up by US intelligence and assessed as being three new classes of landing barges — capable of deploying troops and vehicles onto beaches.

Images captured in March show China’s ferries parking up next to the landing barges.

The three classes are distinguished by differing sizes, with the smallest being 110-meters-long and the largest being 185-meters-long.

“The surprising thing is these are a matched set, like Russian dolls that go together,” Thomas Shugart, a retired US naval captain and an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said.

“They implant themselves and actually lift themselves out of the water,” he said.

Satellite imagery shows more landing docks under construction at Chinese shipyards.

The US Naval War College said the landing docks appeared to be designed to be specifically used with China’s roll-on-roll-off (ro-ro) ferries. This was because of their various lengths and where the loading doors were located.

China’s COMEC Shipyard where additional landing docks were photographed being built. (Photo from Maxar)

“China is building ports that sail — but they only matter if it can first win the seas. The barges don’t win the beach — they scale up once the beach is won,” Mr Corera told the ABC.

“They’re vulnerable, limited, and only useful once China has already made significant progress ashore.

“In short, landing docks and ferries are logistics multipliers.”

What is a ‘ro-ro’ ferry?

Ro-ro (roll-on-roll-off) ferries are commercial cargo vessels capable of holding hundreds of passengers and vehicles.

The first evidence of ferries being used for Chinese military operations came in 2019 when the 15,000-ton vessel the Bang Chui Dao participated in an amphibious assault exercise.

Some of the types of ferries that China is building are similar in size to the Spirit of Tasmania at about 200m long.

But the US Department of Defense report found that the design of the Chinese cargo ships’ doors was reinforced to specifically allow for the transportation of tanks.

A report by the CSIS said China was building 76 large ferries for its own use from 2023 to 2026.

“There is clear evidence that the Chinese military intends to use ro-ros to support military operations,” the report found.

The ferries have occasionally been filmed conducting PLA exercises.

US Intelligence a ‘threat’ to China

Professor Hu Bo has not seen the contents of the classified report but said it echoed “US militaristic thinking” and was a “threat”.

“In wartime, China can legitimately use everything to support its operations. It must be noted that Taiwan is a domestic issue for China,” he said.

China’s position is made clear in an official white paper, called The Taiwan Question and China’s Reunification in the New Era.

Chinese ferries unloading armoured vehicles. (From Planet Labs)