China Could Seize Taiwan Offshore Islands Within 6 Months: Report

The move would test the United States’ resolve to respond effectively to such a crisis, and the faith of its defense allies, report says.

Taiwanese armored vehicles roll down a street in Kinmen Islands, Taiwan, on May 24, 2024. I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images

China could seize control of Taiwan’s offshore Kinmen Islands within the next six months, believing that the United States would not take a forceful response to its aggression, according to a new report.

Researchers from the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute warned that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping may believe that he has a “unique opportunity” over the coming months to carry out a short-of-war coercion campaign against the Kinmen Islands, given the political landscape in both Taiwan and the United States.