These will probably be deployed as human shields during the invasion of Taiwan, and if any military attacks them, China will claim that they’ve attacked Chinese civilians and go apeshit.
Taiwan would have a very strong argument for attacking the boats to break a blockade scenario. The US less so, but they've been blowing up civilian vessels like Judge Dredd for the past year and nobody lifted a finger.
These will probably be deployed as human shields during the invasion of Taiwan, and if any military attacks them, China will claim that they’ve attacked Chinese civilians and go apeshit.
Taiwan would have a very strong argument for attacking the boats to break a blockade scenario. The US less so, but they've been blowing up civilian vessels like Judge Dredd for the past year and nobody lifted a finger.
non-paywall: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/16/world/asia/ch...