Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Would Devastate U.S. and Allies, Simulation Finds

The U.S., its allies and China would suffer devastating consequences in a scenario where the U.S. helps Taiwan fend off an invading force in 2026, a prominent think tank found in one of the most extensive war games ever conducted, CNN reported Monday.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, ran two dozen iterations of the war game to find out whether a Chinese invasion in 2026 would succeed, and at what cost to those involved, CNN reported. While Beijing would likely fail in its campaign for forced reunification with Taiwan, CSIS found in a report to be released Monday, the ensuing war would lay waste to both Chinese and U.S. militaries and cause thousands of casualties.

“The United States and Japan lose dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft, and thousands of service members. Such losses would damage the U.S. global position for many years,” the report said, according to CNN.

With 24 distinct iterations, the project aimed to provide a broader and more transparent look at what a Chinese invasion would look like, according to CNN.

“There’s no unclassified war game out there looking at the U.S.-China conflict,” Mark Cancian, one of three project leaders and a senior adviser at CSIS, told CNN. “Of the games that are unclassified, they’re usually only done once or twice.”