Recent reports indicate that China is stepping up efforts to show military strength amid tensions with Taiwan.
China's desire to claim Taiwan and integrate it with the mainland has pushed the communist-led nation to modernize its military and increase its fleet of ships, the Eurasian Times noted.
One of China's major considerations in invading Taiwan, however, is its ability to launch large-scale amphibious attacks on the strong island nation.
Now, it appears that the China People's Liberation Army (PLA) is testing a novel method-one that has received much criticism from netizens.
In a video uploaded to Twitter by a certain @louischeung_hk, some Chinese soldiers can be seen riding jet-propelled surfboards while wearing huge backpacks.
These soldiers are seen surfing their way to the shore, and upon arriving stand up quickly and move forward with a rifle on hand.
The video's caption simply states that the surfboards are "PLA's new equipment for individual landing operations."
PLA's new equipment for individual landing operations pic.twitter.com/5gSTs1W9x0 — 彩云香江 (@louischeung_hk) September 27, 2022
Downsides
This equipment, is found effective, could allow PLA soldiers to ambush their targets on the shore and neutralize them, and also allow them to capture important locations and installations.
These are but theoretical at the moment, however, as there appears to be many downsides to using this kind of equipment in amphibious attacks, particularly if the Chinese military decides to use them against Taiwan, the Eurasian Times noted.
One of these is the fact that soldiers riding jet-propelled surfboards could become easy targets for Taiwanese soldiers. PLA soldiers riding these surfboards also won't be able to carry a lot of weapons and ammunition for the attacks. The surfboards also do not appear to be capable of traveling far, meaning soldiers will have to use them when they're already near the shore.
Furthermore, these surfboards will not work well if used during inclement weather or when the waves are too big. The video posted by the Twitter user showed the soldiers testing the said equipment in relatively calm waters, meaning there appeared to be no waves opposing their approach to the shore.
Should the soldiers attempt to surf to the shore during inclement weather, they could be tossed or even swallowed by the waves.
Taiwan's Strong Defenses
Nevertheless, it appears that China might have a hard time securing Taiwan regardless of its efforts.
According to a military analyst named Ou Hsi-fu, despite China's huge fleet of ships and amphibious craft, there are many "factors" preventing the communist-led People's Republic of China from successfully attacking the democratic Republic of China.
One of these factors is the fact that at most, China will only be able to deploy around 400,000 soldiers in an amphibious attack, and this number is not enough to overcome Taiwan's defenses.
