DPA Projection
China Invasion of Taiwan
PROJECTION UPDATE (13 May 2025)
- In a surprise U-turn by China, after strong words of not talking to USA or negotiating with USA without USA first eliminating their tariffs on China, China delegation met with USA delegation at Geneva, Switzerland between 10-12 May 2025.
- China and USA both agree to drop reciprocal-retaliation tariffs to 10% for 90 days - effectively setting the minimum tariff on each sides to 10% vs 30%. Read more about the deal here.
- The softening stance by China may be a signal of prioritization over stabilizing internal economic problems over challenging US hegemony - thus reducing the threat of using war on Taiwan to militarily-strategically defeat US influence/presence in the region.
- DPA assess the risk to drop from 50% to 40% - given the trade war respite is only for 90 days - and with the nearly insurmountable economic challenge facing China internally, China may not necessarily be able to offer a deal that USA want, and the high tariffs may return after the end of the 90 days.
PROJECTION UPDATE (7 April 2025)
- Trump administration's "New World Order" via international trade and economic reforms have a strong leaning towards isolating China or to force China to reform its economic policies.
- China is unlikely and possibly, literally unable to accede to any of the demands of Trump due to internal economic turmoil/problems.
- China's economic stability/growth is entirely underpinned by the enormous export numbers, and the export have to continue to grow in order to keep up with management of the enormous debt and poor internal economic situation - any reduction to export would hit twice as hard on China than usual for any other countries.
- The most opportune time frame / window to invade Taiwan has closed tremendously due to Trump's election:Trump has revigorated the US military recruitment & focus, massive investment into US military as well as remedying US military weakness, including investment into 6th Gen fighters, reinvestment in ship building as well as bringing back manufacturing that could improve US's war time production.
- China's military advantage on the Taiwan straits will be reduced with every passing month, as USA will complete its full redeployment/focus of its military from Europe to Asia, as well as introduction of new weaponry that is being ordered into production right now.
- If China's economic situation gets heavily hit by Trump economic/trade war assaults (especially Trump successfully gets many countries to cut/reduce trade with China) - China economic turmoil may create a lot more internal political problems than the Communist Party could deal with - which makes an invasion of Taiwan very unpopular with the citizens, whose concerns may be more on economic issues.
- Which again means that the only time frame in which China could launch an invasion with popular support would be, BEFORE such economic problem occur.
- China could also use "a war" in Taiwan to create a massive disruption, in order to fight off Trump's trade/economic offensive; similar to China's deliberate attempt to allow Covid-19 to go global to starve off the 2020 trade war situation, which China was losing/on the back foot.
- An invasion of Taiwan would also put Trump in a bad spot, as Trump runs on a no-war position - a prolonged military campaign in Taiwan stretching to the mid-terms in the US, could also potentially cause the Republican Party to lose either the House or Senate, crippling Trump's ability to conduct further effective reforms/actions in the USA.
- An invasion of Taiwan, would also test the will of USA to defend Taiwan - on top of that, the will of Japan, South Korea and the rest of US-allies/partners to side of USA on the conflict.
- Failure of the allies and partners to answer US' call to action to help defend Taiwan would effectively destroy US prestige and global leadership for good.
KEYSTONE DEVELOPMENT (2 April 2025)
- USA slaps minimum 10% tariff on all countries
- Tariff on China imports is now at 54%, putting tremendous pressure on Chinese imports into USA
- All countries are likely to enter trade negotiations with Trump.
- China had retaliated against the US "Liberation Day" tariff by announcing 34% tariff on all US goods. Including 10%-15% duties on certain products, certain products may now have 49% tariff.
DPA Projection (7 April 2025):
DPA believe that Trump administration, with the intention to prevent Chinese goods from avoiding the tariff via 3rd country, will force every country, particularly Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc... to either cut/reduce trade with China, or risk having the tariff stay at current high numbers (as per announced on 2nd April 2025 aka Liberation Day).
DEVELOPMENT (March 2025)
- A confidential Pentagon memo revealed that deterring a Chinese takeover of Taiwan has become a U.S. military priority. This aligns with proposals to reallocate defense resources, potentially increasing funding for commands focused on China.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the United States is "no longer primarily focused" on Europe's security and emphasized that European nations need to assume greater responsibility for their own defense. This shift allows the U.S. to reallocate military resources toward addressing challenges in Asia, particularly concerning China's growing influence.
- Vice President JD Vance echoed this sentiment at the 2024 Munich Security Conference, asserting that the U.S. must prioritize East Asia and that European countries should increase their defense spending to ensure their own security.
- Reports suggest that the U.S. is considering adjusting the role of its forces stationed in South Korea, shifting focus from deterring North Korea to addressing broader regional challenges, particularly concerning China.
DPA Projection (7 April 2025):
DPA assess that we will soon be seeing increased military deployments to US bases in the Asia Pacific in the near future.
However, this will likely only happen after USA resolves the immediate problems with Iran as well as with the Houthis in Yemen.
Projection Archives
[ Reuters ] Canada foreign minister says eyes wide open when it comes to normalizing China ties
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, flew back to China on Friday after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end a bank fraud case against her. That resulted in the scrapping of her extradition battle in a Canadian court.Soon after Meng flew to China,…
[ SCMP ] North Korea open to closer ties with Seoul, formal end to Korean war is ‘admirable idea’: Kim Yo-jong
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, says the North is open to “constructive discussion” to mend fences with South Korea if Seoul drops its “hostile attitude” toward Pyongyang. Speaking on Friday, she also welcomed South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s recent call to declare an end to the Korean war as an “interesting and admirable idea”,…
Manny Pacquiao accepted Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban) nomination to run for Philippines President
Manny Pacquiao is running to become the next President of the Phillippines. The 42-year-old boxer – who is one of the most celebrated athletes of all time – has accepted the nomination of the PDP-Laban-Pacquiao faction ahead of the elections in May 2022. Manny Pacquiao@MannyPacquiao·Sep 19I boldly accept the challenge of running as PRESIDENT of…
[ The Defenstar ] Argentina to buy inferior and more expensive JF-17 over FA-50 due to UK
Argentia has decided to buy 12 FC-1 ‘Xiaolong’ a.k.a. JF-17 Block-3 jets from China for 664 million USD (55 million per unit) rejecting other fighters on offer including the South Korean FA-50. India had not offered its Tejas fighter due to geopolitical reasons, however this deal helped to finally reveal the unit price of the…
[ ABC News ] Why World Bank is under fire over set of rankings
World Bank has long been accused of using sloppy methodology and of succumbing to political pressure in producing the rankings. This week, the bank dropped the report after investigators had reviewed internal complaints about “data irregularities’’ in the 2018 and 2020 editions of “Doing Business” and possible “ethical matters” involving World Bank staff members. In…
Syrian gas pipeline sabotage, causing complete power outage across Syria
Last night, Syria suffered a complete power outage for unknown reasons (other reports mention that this only affected Damascus and the surrounding regions). It was later announced by Syria’s Minister of Electricity Ghasan Al Zamel that a pipeline was targeted an explosive device at Deir Ali Power Plant, that caused the blackout. “There was a…
UK’s Babcock sell Arrowhead 140 (AH140) frigate design to PT PAL Indonesia (Persero) – 2 vessels licensed in the deal
Indonesia has acquired the rights and license to build 2 x Arrowhead 140 frigates with bespoke design modification for its Navy. The agreement was signed at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2021 event in London, on board HMS Argyll, by David Lockwood CEO Babcock and Kaharuddin Djenod, CEO PAL. And was witnessed by…
[ NYT ] Furious Over Sub Deal, France Recalls Ambassadors to U.S. and Australia
Calling American and Australian behavior “unacceptable between allies and partners,” France announced on Friday that it was recalling its ambassadors to both countries in protest over President Biden’s decision to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. It was the first time in the history of the long alliance between France and the United States, dating back…
You can now advertise directly with DPA
After a “meh” trial to use Google Adwords as a mean of getting advertising income, we concluded that it’s rather massive waste of time to use Adwords. Not to mention how Google Adwords destroys the UIUX (user interface/user experience) of DPA. As such, we have decided to launch our own advertising solution, which will allow…
[ Sky News ] China says AUKUS submarine deal ‘highly irresponsible’ and ‘intensifies the arms race’
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian condemned the move and said: “The US, the UK and Australia’s cooperation in nuclear submarines severely damages regional peace and stability, intensifies the arms race, and jeopardises the international efforts in promoting the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. “The US and UK’s action of exporting highly sensitive nuclear…

