Mubasher: At the beginning of 2019, China took a big step in its space project, with the landing of a space probe on the far side of the moon.

However, Beijing’s dearest aspirations reside here in home earth, among them the self-governing island of Taiwan.

Earlier in January, Chinese president Xi Jinping stated that no one could change the fact that Taiwan is not but a part of the Chinese soil, asserting that the military option is not off the table.

Such threat was taken seriously by Taiwan, forcing its president to call for the international community support.

That development has raised questions regarding the possibility of a Chinese military act against Taipei.

According to Reuters, a New Year’s Day editorial in China’s official military newspaper said that 2019 priority should be war preparations. But is China “prepared” for a war?

The invasion of Taiwan, as Reuters reported, citing military analysts, requires the determent of the US forces in the region and the prevention of any intervention of other reinforcements, a mission that Beijing may not be able to accomplish.

Also, Taiwan is working to prove itself as a not-easy target, with a plan to spend $11 billion on its military during 2019.

“Chinese military thinking increasingly revolves around just this kind of potential war, in which Beijing would want to grab territory while keeping US forces back,” the international news agency said.

That analysis is evidenced by China’s focus on the building of ships, aircraft, landing ships, and Anti-ship missiles.

In 2018, the US sent several navy ships through the Taiwanese strait what is called a “demonstration of the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.