Originally published China-Taiwan Weekly Update, January 16, 2024 on by https://globalsecurityreview.com/columbia-class-the-submarine-the-u-s-navy-is-desperate-for/ at Global Security Review
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-weekly-update-january-16-2024
Authors: Matthew Sperzel, Daniel Shats, Alison O’Neil, Karina Wugang, and Frank Mattimoe of the Institute for the Study of War;
Alexis Turek and Yeji Chung of the American Enterprise Institute
Editors: Dan Blumenthal and Frederick W. Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute
Data Cutoff: January 15, 2025 // Jan 16, 2025 – ISW Press // 
China-Taiwan Weekly Update, January 16, 2024
The China–Taiwan Weekly Update is a joint product from the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute. The update supports the ISW–AEI Coalition Defense of Taiwan project, which assesses Chinese campaigns against Taiwan, examines alternative strategies for the United States and its allies to deter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) aggression, and—if necessary—defeat the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The update focuses on the Chinese Communist Party’s paths to controlling Taiwan and cross–Taiwan Strait developments.
Key Takeaways
- Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (LY) passed opposition-backed amendments to the Constitutional Court after a Cabinet-mandated second review. The amendments will paralyze the Constitutional Court until the LY approves nominees to fill some of its vacant seats, and will make it temporarily impossible for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to block opposition-sponsored legislation.
- Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) released a report on January 12 highlighting organized crime and religious communities as infiltration channels to recruit agents and conduct espionage within Taiwan.
- The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) reported that 50,000 people attended its protest decrying the detention of TPP founder Ko Wen-je on corruption charges, which the TPP claims to be politically motivated. The content of these protests and the amount of support they have received have been the focus of PRC coverage, aligning with previous anti-DPP narratives within PRC-backed media.
- The PRC is building a fleet of barges with extendable piers that are likely designed to facilitate amphibious landings.
- The South Korean authorities discovered a 164-foot tall and wide steel framework installed by the PRC within the Provisional Measures Zones (PMZ) of the Yellow Sea in December 2024. This installation is part of the PRC’s ongoing efforts to assert territorial control over the disputed waters, taking advantage of the leadership vacuum in South Korea amid its internal political turmoil following President Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration on December 3, 2024.
Originally published China-Taiwan Weekly Update, January 16, 2024 on by https://globalsecurityreview.com/columbia-class-the-submarine-the-u-s-navy-is-desperate-for/ at Global Security Review
Originally published Global Security Review