Mainland China airs documentary signalling military preparation for Taiwan attack and willingness to sacrifice

Chasing Dreams programme marks PLA’s 96th anniversary with eight-part series showing readiness to fight ‘at any second’
A stealth fighter jet pilot and a navy frogman among PLA personnel shown pledging to lay their lives on the line for reunification

China’s military

Liu Zhen

Published: 5:58pm, 4 Aug 2023

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Beijing is trying to send strong signals about its preparation for an attack on Taiwan, with People’s Liberation Army soldiers pledging to sacrifice themselves.

The pledges are part of the eight-episode documentary series Zhu Meng, or “chasing dreams”, aired on state broadcaster CCTV from Tuesday to mark the PLA’s 96th anniversary and show the readiness of military personnel to fight “at any second”.

In one instance, a pilot in one of the PLA’s most advanced stealth fighter jets vows to launch a suicide attack if necessary.

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“My fighter would be my last missile, rushing towards the enemy if in a real battle I had used up all my ammunition,” said Li Peng, a J-20 pilot from Wang Hai Squadron, an ace unit under the PLA Eastern Theatre Command that serves as the mainland’s primary force against Taiwan.

Zuo Feng, a frogman of the PLA Navy’s minesweeper unit, echoes the sentiment.

“If war broke out and the conditions were too difficult to safely remove the naval mines in actual combat, we will use our own bodies to clear a safe pathway for our landing forces,” Zuo said.

The documentary features the personal stories of dozens of PLA soldiers across different services and locations, shows footage of military exercises, especially around Taiwan, and reiterates “the centennial goal of the PLA must be realised”.

Beijing regards self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province and insists it would never renounce the use of force to take it back. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but many are opposed to a change of status quo by force.

Concerns about a conflict over the island have risen as cross-strait ties and relations between Beijing and Washington have worsened.

Some observers, such as former US Indo-Pacific Command chief Philip Davidson, have said the PLA is likely to make the move by 2027, the deadline of the PLA’s centennial goal of becoming a world-class military, a period named the Davidson window.

The documentary series offers a view – albeit restricted – of the PLA’s operation scenarios, such as seizing air superiority, sea control and information tech suppression before launching an amphibious landing.

Part of the series concentrates on Joint Sword, an exercise that took place around Taiwan in April as a show of force in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the US.

Wang Xinjie, a member of the PLA’s amphibious assault group, is seen practising a group charge towards the beach in an amphibious vehicle, with fire cover from bombers, land and ship-launched missiles, rockets and helicopters.

“I would like to go and see the other side of the strait,” Wang said. “I have been preparing for that day.”

Li Yuantong, who at the age of 27 is said to be one of the PLA Air Force’s youngest air mission commanders, invented a “double-bombing” tactic to effectively destroy hidden underground targets, according to the documentary.

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He was filmed in a J-16 fighter cockpit with a view of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range while singing “My war eagle is flying around the Treasure Island”, a patriotic Eastern Theatre Command song about its Taiwan patrols.

“If there is a day I could really feel proud of myself, I think it would be when our country is reunified,” Li said.

The documentary also shows footage of the PLA’s Shandong aircraft carrier releasing four J-15 jet fighters in attack formation while sailing through the Taiwan Strait this year, and said PLA Air Force fighters had driven away foreign warplanes in a game of chicken by conducting direct head-on manoeuvres until near collision.

It included a training session for a “most brutal” urban assault amid Washington’s suggestion, spurred by lessons from the Ukraine war, for Taiwan to buy cheap asymmetric weapons such as drones, land and sea mines and handheld missiles, and aided by trained civilians.

“As for urban combat, the meat grinder of modern warfare, we have to very carefully calculate,” said Fan Lizhong, the special tactics unit commander.

“It would definitely be incredibly painful to face the casualties of our comrades on the battlefield one after another, but as a commander not only must I have the judgment and ability to respond calmly to emergencies, but also the ideas and awareness for joint warfare under modern conditions, and always be ready to fight.”

Military commentator Song Zhongping said the documentary was intended to showcase the PLA’s confidence against the Taiwanese defence force but its messages were also intended for the US.

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