New mock Taiwan government buildings spotted at mainland Chinese military base

Beijing has built more structures resembling Taiwan’s key government buildings at its military base in Inner Mongolia, according to satellite images obtained by a Japanese think tank, a move that suggests more systematic training for a potential conflict across the strait.

Sankei Shimbun, a right-leaning Japanese newspaper, reported that an analysis of satellite images obtained on Wednesday by the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals found that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had completed a “mock Judicial Yuan” at the army’s Zhurihe training base.

The report said the structure was linked to a 280-metre (918-foot) underground tunnel and was beside a separate building resembling Taiwan’s presidential office, which was shown by mainland state media in 2015.

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According to Sankei Shimbun, Beijing has in recent years built facilities at the base resembling the buildings of Taiwan’s foreign and defence ministries.

“With the additions, the mock presidential office building training area has expanded nearly threefold since 2020,” it said.

The report said satellite images from July 2022 showed the PLA setting up roadblocks at the mock leader’s office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs before armoured vehicles entered the area.

Images from August that year showed a “brigade-sized force training to engage in confrontations with a simulated enemy force guarding the presidential palace”, the report said, adding there were signs that similar training was still being conducted.

The Japanese newspaper quoted Maki Nakagawa, a researcher at the think tank, as saying Beijing had “rapidly renovated” the Zhurihe training base and implemented “combat-oriented training” there.

South China Morning Post