What New Satellite Photo Reveals About China’s Invasion Plans
New satellite images have surfaced showing the new enigmatic barges of China landing – the vessels that would have been designed to support large -scale amphibious attacks, such as a potential invasion of Taiwan.
Nowsweek contacted the Chinese Defense Ministry by email with a request for comments outside the office hours.
Why it matters
Taiwan, a world center for high -tech supply chains and a large American trading partner, faces China growing pressure. The government of the Chinese Communist Party of Beijing says that Taiwan is its territory – despite having never reigned – and has sworn unification is inevitable.
China has intensified pressure on Taiwan by almost daily military outings in the Taiwan Strait, large -scale exercises and simulated blockade. Current and former US officials believe that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the Popular Liberation Army (PLA) to be able to take the island by 2027.
What to know
Based for the first time by Naval News in January, ships were built in Guangzhou shipyards by the CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering Company (COMEC), which provides the PLA for supplier’s replenishment oilers and other support ships.
The barges, nicknamed “Shuiqiao” – Mandarin for “water bridge” – are notable for their legs and plugs which extend nearly 400 feet. These features allow several barges to be connected, forming a single long period, as seen in images and videos shared by military amateurs on Chinese social media.
A Shuiqiao barge works like a temporary pontoon. The tanks and other armored vehicles transported on the coast by ships / rollers of China could drive above the bridge and land further in the land, bypassing the beaches strongly defended.
🔎 Shiiqiao update and correction
Earlier, I noted the absence of the first batch of #Shuqiao Amphibious assault barges class. A big thank you to @Sinotalk (Joaquin Camarena) for excellent clarification (and excellent articles on the subject)!
New images confirm these 3 barges (seen… pic.twitter.com/1j6siz00zb
– Mt Anderson (@mt_anderson) July 30, 2025
A photo of July 27 captured by the Skyfi satellite image supplier shows three of the barges near the island of Nantian in the Province of Zhejiang, accompanied by a Pla Fujian classier.
Open Source analyst Mt Anderson, who shared the photos on X, formerly Twitter, wrote that the barges seemed to undergo verification tests.
Analysts say that the choice of the location is intentional, because the land is closely like coastal areas northeast of Taipei, the Taiwanese capital.
“It reflects a deliberate effort to simulate taiwan’s northeast coastline, Particularly Areas Like Yilan County and New Taipei City, Where Rugged, Less-Defended Beaches Could Offer The Pla An Asymetric Opening,” Bryce Barros, Train China Affairs Analyst Whnow told Nowsweek.
“This suggests that the PLA could prepare to quickly disembark vehicles, troops and supplies near the capital if a bridgehead can be secure,” he added.
The barges, however, would be very vulnerable without a established air and maritime superiority and could still face threats of Taiwanese drones and launchers of portable missiles like the javelin, said Barros, pointing to the defense of Ukraine against the invasion of Russian forces like the example.
What is the next step
A more recent satellite photo, also shared by Anderson, showed the Barges – which carry the “Dongong” shell numbers 401, 402 and 403 – were still on Nantian Island on Sunday.
If the ships undergo verification training, they could soon be integrated into the PLA navy.
