Taiwan has urgently begun reinforcing defenses on the Penghu archipelago to prepare for a possible first strike by China, according to sources.
The strategic island group, located in the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China, forms a critical outer layer of defense for the self-governed island. Sources cited by global news agency Reuters state that the 90 islands making up the archipelago could come under direct attack during the very first wave of any Chinese military offensive.
Security experts emphasize that maintaining control of Penghu is vital for defense forces. Retaining the archipelago would allow the Taiwanese military to offer strong resistance against the Chinese navy by targeting enemy vessels with missile strikes.
Civilian Preparedness in Penghu
In addition to military fortification, authorities are actively preparing the civilian population of Penghu for potential warfare. Out of the archipelago's 110,000 residents, approximately 1,200 people have already completed a specialized government program aimed at increasing public and societal resilience.
The islands, also known as the Pescadores, sit in the waters off the western coast of Taiwan. Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that must eventually be reunited with mainland China, raising ongoing security concerns across the region.
Russian Commentary on Taiwan Tensions
The military preparations on the island follow comments by Konstantin Blokhin, a senior research scientist at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Blokhin previously compared the geopolitical situation surrounding Taiwan to the conflict in Ukraine.
He stated that the United States is encouraging the creation of a major hotbed of tension directly along China's borders. Washington, according to Blokhin, is actively trying to turn Taiwan into a second Ukraine.
The Russian Academy of Sciences is Russia's premier national scientific institution, headquartered in Moscow, whose security center analyzes international relations and global strategic affairs.
