《TAIPEI TIMES》 PLA building more Taiwan mock-ups

A December 2018 satellite image of Zhurihe Training Base in China’s Inner Mongolia shows mock-ups of Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building and nearby government buildings. Photo: Screen grab from Google Earth

TARGETS:Taiwan has consistently planned for all possible scenarios involving Chinese action against the country and developed contingency measures, a major general said

By Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it is monitoring the construction of full-scale replicas of military and government sites in Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s （PLA）.

The comments from ministry spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang （孫立方） come after a report by the Telegraph on satellite imagery showing replicas of Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building, Suao Naval Base and other sites.

Citing satellite imagery and defense analysts, the report, published on Sunday, said that the PLA had built life-size replicas of key government facilities to rehearse military operations under realistic conditions.

The report described the scale and specificity of the training facilities as “unprecedented.”

China had constructed replicas of Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, which has the largest US naval base in that country, and Suao Naval Base in Yilan County, it said.

Satellite imagery showed a mock-up of a Keelung-class destroyer berthed inside the replica of the Suao base, it said.

Reports of PLA mock-up facilities have surfaced several times in the past few years. Satellite imagery first showed replicas of US aircraft carriers and destroyers in China’s northwestern deserts in 2021, while analysts in 2024 identified life-size replicas of Taipei’s Boai Special Zone, including the Presidential Office Building, at a military base in Inner Mongolia.

More recent imagery has shown mock-ups of the Suao base and the Yokosuka base, which analysts say could be used to rehearse strikes against key military and government targets in a Taiwan contingency.

Asked about the report, Sun said the military has “a comprehensive understanding” of the PLA’s construction of the replicas through its intelligence-gathering efforts.

The armed forces have consistently planned for all possible scenarios involving Chinese military action against Taiwan and developed contingency measures, he said.

“The disclosure of this information reminds us that the threats we face today are extremely serious,” Sun said, adding that the ministry takes the developments seriously and would continue strengthening force development, combat readiness and military training.

He called on the public to support the ministry’s annual and special defense budgets to ensure it has the resources needed to maintain combat readiness.

F-16 REIMBURSEMENTS Separately, a National Audit Office report on the central government’s final accounts for last year said that Taiwan is entitled to reimbursement from other countries’ purchasing systems developed under the air force’s F-16A/B upgrade program because it independently funded development of key subsystems.

As of the end of October last year, the US had either disbursed or was reviewing reimbursement payments of more than US$245.23 million, the report said.

Responding to the report, Sun said the air force had already explained to the National Audit Office that US foreign military sales regulations cap such reimbursements.

For the F-16 program, the reimbursement ceiling is US$319 million, and Taiwan has already received about US$245 million in research and development cost-sharing payments, he said.

The air force will continue to monitor other countries’ participation in the program through project management meetings and regular meetings and videoconferences with US officials to ensure Taiwan receives the reimbursement to which it is entitled, Sun said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES