The 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy has turned into a rather solemn occasion since European security today remains deeply troubled. Yet, thinking hard about the stunning Allied victory on the beaches of France 80 years ago could actually turn out to be quite significant for adjusting to the new realities of the Indo-Pacific region.
Military experts have long pointed out that if China tried to invade Taiwan they would need to attack on a scale comparable to the Allied invasion of Normandy. The width of the Taiwan Strait is quite comparable to the width of the English Channel in the vicinity of Normandy – just under 100 miles. Moreover, the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has been intensively studying all aspects of the Normandy campaign for decades.
Earlier this year, a Chinese-language analysis in Guofang Bao, one of the PLA’s leading newspapers, detailed how Allied airpower played the key role in the D-Say invasion by preventing “the German army’s powerful strategic and operational reserves …[from] concentrating to organize large-scale anti-landing operations.”
Author
Lyle
Goldstein
Director, Asia Program
Events on China
