taiwan to okinawa cruise

china taiwan to okinawa cruises

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Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan

Cruise: 30,844,057.

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Cruise Details

Short cruise program.

Specification

Yokohama (Tokyo) / Japan

Tokyo , officially  Tokyo Metropolis , one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, has served as the Japanese capital since 1869. As of 2014, the Greater Tokyo Arearanked as the most populous metropolitan area in the world. The urban area houses the seat of the Emperor of Japan, of the Japanese government and of the National Diet. Tokyo forms part of the Kantō region on the southeastern side of Japan's main island, Honshu, and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo was formerly named Edo when  Shōgun  Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters in 1603. It became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from Kyoto in 1868; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo. Tokyo Metropolis formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture  and the city of Tokyo. Tokyo is often referred to as a city but is officially known and governed as a "metropolitan prefecture", which differs from and combines elements of a city and a prefecture, a characteristic unique to Tokyo.

The 23 Special Wards of Tokyo were formerly Tokyo City. On July 1, 1943, it merged with Tokyo Prefecture and became Tokyo Metropolis with an additional 26 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture, and the Izu islandsand Ogasawara islands south of Tokyo. The population of the special wards is over 9 million people, with the total population of Tokyo Metropolis exceeding 13.8 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area called the Greater Tokyo Area with over 38 million people and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy. As of 2011, Tokyo hosted 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world at that time. Tokyo ranked third (twice) in the International Financial Centres Development Index. The city is home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System.

Day at sea / Sea

Okinawa / Japan

Okinawa Prefecture  is the southernmost prefecture of Japan. It encompasses two thirds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long. The Ryukyu Islands extend southwest from Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu (the southwesternmost of Japan's four main islands) to Taiwan. Naha, Okinawa's capital, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island.

Although Okinawa Prefecture comprises just 0.6 percent of Japan's total land mass, about 75 percent of all United States military personnel stationed in Japan are assigned to installations in the prefecture. Currently about 26,000 U.S. troops are based in the prefecture.

Ishigaki Ishigaki / Japan

Taipei / taiwan, search cruise.

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Pre and Post Cruise Hotels in Keelung

Keelung Imperial Hotel

Reviewed on Feb 27, 2024

LIGHT INN - Hostel

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Season Of Water

Reviewed on Aug 5, 2020

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Sailing the East China Sea: Japan, Okinawa, And Taiwan

• Get inspired by the possibilities.
• Build your ideal trip.
• Experience Japan’s Himeji Castle, historic towns of Ozu and Uchiko, and “floating” torii gate at Miyajima
• Explore Naoshima, an island transformed by art and cutting-edge architecture
• Snorkel the coral reefs of Kerama Island
• Hike among ancient cedar trees in Yakushima’s rainforest
• Visit Shodoshima, a 400-year-old culinary mecca
• Village Visits
• Archaeological Site Visits
• Small Ship Cruises

Full Itinerary

Day 1: osaka, japan | kobe, day 2: kobe | himeji.

• Accommodation
• 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner

Day 3: Okayama | Kurashiki

Day 4: naoshima and shodoshima islands, day 5: miyajima island and hiroshima, day 6: shikoku island: uchiko and ozu, day 7: yakushima island, day 8: amami oshima island, day 9: naha, okinawa | kerama islands, day 10-12: miyako & yaeyama islands.

• 3 Breakfasts, 3 Lunches, 3 Dinners

Day 13: Keelung, Taiwan

Day 14: taipei | home.

• 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch

National Geographic Resolution

Dates & prices, my preferred start date.

Initial deposit is 15% of cabin fare and may vary by program, and most travelers will call our office and pay the deposit with a credit card.

Final payment is due 130 days prior to departure by Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AmEx, or check

See our general terms and conditions:

• Adventure Life Terms & Conditions

We are an agent for one or more providers on this trip with specific cancellation policies and terms:

• Lindblad Expeditions - Reservation Terms & Conditions - Lindblad Expeditions

For full cancellation policy details, please contact us for a quote.

• 12 Breakfasts, 12 Lunches, 12 Dinners
• 12 Nights Accommodations
• Accommodations as listed
• Ground transportation as listed
• Activities as listed
• Meals as listed
• Access to a 24-7 Emergency line while traveling
• Complimentary Parka - available only for the duration of the voyage.
• Assistance by the onboard National Geographic Photography Expert
• Beer, wine, cocktails, and spirits aboard the ship. We are also pleased to offer a selection of super premium wines and liquors that are available for purchase.
• Crew gratuities
• Complimentary Starlink-enabled Wi-Fi internet is available to all guests aboard Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic fleet, enabling email, messaging, and social media.
• Park and site entrance fees, special access permits, and port taxes
• Excursions, hotels, and airport transfers, as indicated in the itinerary 
• Selection of exploration tools curated to your destination, such as Zodiacs and glass-bottom boats, stand-up paddleboards, kayaks, snorkeling equipment (including wetsuits, masks, and fins), and other state-of-the-art gear
• Guidance and company of leading expedition staff
• All meals as indicated in the itinerary, both aboard and onshore. Meals are inspired by regional cuisine and locally sourced where possible
• Hors d’oeuvres inspired by regional cuisine and locally sourced where possible
• 24-hour access to snacks, premium coffees and teas, non-alcoholic beverages, and filtered water
• Presentations on your destination by expedition staff and expert guest speakers
• Complimentary reusable water bottle to fill at onboard water refill stations
• The services of a physician, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or paramedic  where available
• Morning stretch classes and 24-hour access to exercise equipment where available
• 24-hour access to lounges, observation decks, library stocked with regionally relevant literature, and other shared spaces 
• Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic certified photo instructor
• Travel Insurance
• Personal Expenses
• Additional excursions during free time
• Fuel and transportation surcharges (when applicable)
• Laundry, spa treatments, scuba diving, Wi-Fi and phone services (except when indicated as included)
• We strongly recommend our guests to take Travel Protection Plan. A Plan with comprehensive coverage to protect you from cancellation fees, costs incurred due to trip delays/interruption, damaged or lost baggage, medical assistance, and evacuation during your travels
• Airfare (except flights when indicated as included), pre- and post-expedition extensions, additional hotel nights, and private transfers (except when indicated as included)
• Travel protection plans and passport, visa, and immigration fees 
• Enhanced and premium Wi-Fi plans, which may enable video chat, web browsing, and streaming (connectivity permitting)

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Dates and Prices

Accommodation, 5-night japan, okinawa islands & taiwan cruise.

• history DURATION 5 nights
• history DURATION DAYS
• history DURATION NIGHTS 5 nights

Departing Tokyo, Japan 5 Feb 2021 - Arriving Taipei, Taiwan 10 Feb 2021

Tokyo (Yokohama) - Shimizu (for Mt Fuji) - Kobe - Okinawa Day - Taipei (Keelung)

Inclusions/Exclusions

• Book through Travel at 60 for BONUS onboard spending money!
• Anytime Dining or Traditional Dining (breakfast, lunch & dinner)
• Room Service (24 hours)
• Casual Dining Venues
• Beverages (Iced Tea, Lemonade, Water, Tea varieties, Nonspecialty Coffee)
• Day 1: Depart Tokyo (Yokohama)
• Day 2: Shimizu (for Mt Fuji)
• Day 3: Kobe
• Day 4: Cruising at sea
• Day 5: Okinawa
• Day 6: Arrive Taipei (Keelung)

05-10 Feb 2021 on Diamond Princess

• Interior - from $1,078 per person twin share
• Oceanview - from $1,428 per person twin share
• Balcony - from $1,718 per person twin share
• Mini-Suite - from $2,058 per person twin share
• Suites - from $4,438 per person twin share

Solo traveller prices available on request. Please freecall our Aussie travel team on 1300 414 198 for details.

• Standard amenities include a hair dryer, refrigerator, TV, closet and bathroom with shower
• A spacious picture window for memorable views
• Balcony with 2 chairs and table
• Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors

Mini-Suite:

• Balcony with 2-4 chairs, table and ottoman
• Bathroom tub and massage shower head with upgraded amenities
• Separate sitting area with sofa bed & coffee table
• Luxury mattress topper and pillows
• Two flat-panel TVs
• Luxury balcony furniture including 2 loungers, 4 chairs, table and ottoman
• 2 floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors
• Separate sitting area with sofa bed, chair and 2 tables
• One complimentary mini-bar setup To coincide with Club Class roll-out suites will get free daily bottled water.
• Spacious closet
• Complimentary use of the Lotus Spa® Thermal Suite
• Complimentary laundry and professional cleaning services
• Complimentary dinner in a specialty restaurant on embarkation day
• Priority specialty dining and shore excursion reservation
• Priority disembarkation at tender ports

Travel at 60 booking conditions apply. Please enquire for more information.

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Cruises to Okinawa, Japan

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• Okinawa Port Guide
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Okinawa Japan Port Guide

Life is a little slower in the Okinawa prefecture, where the beaches are impossibly blue and the island offers something for everyone, from outdoor enthusiasts to foodies and everything in between. Scuba divers especially love the Okinawa area and Southwest Islands for its vibrant coral ecosystem and incredible limestone formations.

No Asia cruise would be complete without a stop in Okinawa, which has a long history of U.S. armed forces living on the island. Your Okinawa, Japan cruise ship will dock in Naha, the capital city of the Okinawa prefecture. In Naha, you’ll find a fascinating mix of Shinto shrines and landmarks dating back to the 14th century, like Shurijo Castle and the traditional Shikinaen Garden. Or, take an afternoon excursion to the former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters, which is perfectly preserved as it was last left, before enjoying a reflective walk along the Okinawa Peace Park.

Please Note: While we don't currently sail to Okinawa, you can still discover the beauty of the country on one of our Japan cruises . Browse our cruises to Japan below.

Cruises to Japan

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Top sights & attractions for cruises to okinawa, okinawa prefectural museum and art museum.

What better way to make yourself at home on a cruise to Okinawa, Japan than by exploring its arts and history? The Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum should be the first sightseeing stop for art and culture lovers to see the region’s best contemporary art and exhibits dedicated to the history of the city.

Tamaudun Royal Mausoleum

This dramatic UNESCO World Heritage site is the tomb of a king dating back to 1501. Take in the splendor of the mausoleum, carved into and built on a hill in Okinawa, which is truly fitting for a king.

Valley of Gangala

Take a guided tour of this stunning valley before heading to the nearby Okinawa World on your Okinawa, Japan cruise. It’s a forest that grew with the collapse of a limestone cave. If you’re looking for nature unlike anywhere else in the world, Okinawa has it.

Shikinaen Garden

Tour another incredible UNESCO World Heritage site at Shikina-en Garden. It’s a former royal villa where a traditional Japanese garden still blooms beautifully. Nature lovers and gardening enthusiasts will appreciate Okinawa’s dedication to natural beauty.

Learn More About Asia Shore Excursions

Top things to do in okinawa, head to the churaumi aquarium.

On your Okinawa, Japan cruise, you and the entire family will love this huge aquarium. The largest aquarium tank in the entire world is here, plus hundreds of species of tropical fish, coral, manta rays, and more.

Go Scuba Diving

Okinawa’s coast is incredible, and there’s no better way to see it than underwater. You’ll discover the unique caves and structures that draw thousands of scuba divers to Okinawa every year.

Have Fun at Okinawa World

Okinawa World is a quirky theme park destination showcasing the city’s unique qualities, including a reproduction of a typical village and traditional dance performances. While you’re there, check out the massive, somewhat spooky cave called Gyokusendo. It’s one of the longest limestone caves in Asia.

Explore the Kitchen of Okinawa

Foodies have to check out Makishi Public Market, a shopping area dedicated entirely to the freshest seafood and fruits in all of Okinawa. Live like a local and stroll through the market on the way to dinner and interact with the shopkeepers as you go.

Top Food and Drink Spots Near the Okinawa Cruise Port

Whether you’re shopping for the fresh catch of the day at Makishi Public Market or exploring Okinawa’s top-‍rated eateries, you’ll find that the highest quality sushi, sashimi, and traditional Japanese dishes rule the day in Okinawa. Freshness is the key quality of all the food here, especially at the tropical fruit shops that sell passionfruit and mango. After all, the cuisine here just might help you live longer, if you believe local legend.

Culture & History of the Okinawa Cruise Port

The island of Okinawa has linked Japanese trade with China, Korea, and the West throughout history, and the port town of Naha has built itself up around the tourism and trade industries along the way. One interesting fact about the people of Okinawa is their life spans. They live, on average, longer than people living in any other part of the world, possibly due to their fresh, rich diet which is high in seafood and Omega-3. As a result, Okinawa and the Southwest Islands have fascinated cultural anthropologists for years.

Okinawa Port Facilities & Location

When your cruise to Okinawa, Japan docks at the Naha pier, you can hop on the free wifi, get your bearings, grab some cash from the nearby ATM, or ask for help or recommendations at the tourism information desk. From there, the options to explore Okinawa are endless. .

Transportation in Okinawa

It’s about a five to ten-minute taxi ride from the cruise port to the center of Naha, and it’s relatively easy to hail a cab from the cruise terminal. There’s also a monorail from Kenchomae Station which is a short walk from the pier. When cruise ships come into port, there tend to be free shuttles to downtown Okinawa.

Shopping Near the Okinawa Cruise Port

The better shopping in the Naha and Okinawa area isn’t immediately near the cruise pier. You’ll have a more opportunities for shopping if you hop on the shuttle bus to Kokusaidori. It’s also only a 10-minute walk from the pier. Shopping, cafes, bars, and restaurants are concentrated along a mile-long drag called International Road. Enjoy clothing from the boutiques or take a leisurely tea break when you get tired of shopping.

Local Currency & Tipping Customs

Tipping isn’t customary in Japan, particularly tipping your tour guide, taxi driver, or restaurant waitstaff. Best practice is to ask if the person who is serving you is comfortable with receiving a tip, but even then, it’s uncommon in Japan. The official Japanese currency is the yen, and the best way to get around financially in Japan is to take out cash rather than rely on a credit card. Many credit cards aren’t accepted here, and cash is still king in Japanese culture.

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4n taiwan and okinawa- msc bellissima.

On selected itineraries, categories and sailing dates,children under 18 , travelling in the same cabin as their parents,  travel free .

MSC Bellissima offers a stunning array of features to rival those of her sister ship, MSC Meraviglia. Innovative MSC for Me technology connects you to your fellow guests, the crew and the ship itself.

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Departure Dates

• The price is per person in Interior Cabin and  excludes Port Taxes and Services; does not include the mandatory Hotel Service Fee. Subject to change. 

Children under 18, travelling in the same cabin as their parents, travel free.

Day 1 - Keelung/ Taipei

Day 2 - miyako, day 3 - naha, day 4 - ishigaki, day 5 - keelung.

• Ports of call may vary, subject to change.
• ^24Dec No port in Miyako, NAHA over night.

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By Dmitri Alperovitch

This Is What Would Happen if China Invaded Taiwan

In late March, a Taiwanese data analyst posted on social media about an odd satellite image: It appeared that the Chinese military had erected at one of its remote military bases in Inner Mongolia a series of roads that perfectly re-created the roads around the presidential palace in Taipei. The revelation only appeared to underscore the seriousness with which Chinese officials are proceeding with President Xi Jinping’s directive to be ready to invade the independent island by the late 2020s. As part of the research for his new book, World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century , Dmitri Alperovitch journeyed to Taiwan, talked with multiple high-level officials and national security planners in Taiwan and the United States, and walked the possible invasion terrain to imagine just how such an invasion might occur. His scenario, excerpted here and which he imagines taking place on November 13, 2028, serves as the new book’s prologue.

The winter season in Taiwan—lasting from November till March—is great for surfers. It’s no Bali or Hawaii, as the size of the waves and their consistency may vary, but the Northeast Monsoon, which brings in the cold China Coastal Current water into the Taiwan Strait, where it meets the warm Kuroshio Branch Current coming from the south, is known to form some significant waves. The Taiwan Strait is only about a hundred meters deep—shallow enough that during ice ages and the time of glaciers the island of Taiwan was physically connected to the Chinese mainland; but even in the modern era the 200-mile-long passage—which varies in width from about 100 nautical miles down to just 70 nautical miles and is one of the most vital shipping routes in the world—is known for frequent storms, large swells, and blinding fog and is bedeviled by annual summer typhoons from roughly May to October. Between the typhoons in the summer and the stormy high-wave winter season, there is no predictably perfect and easy time to launch a large-scale amphibious invasion of Taiwan , especially with the strait registering about 150 days a year of winds above 20 knots, rough seas for amphibious ships and landing craft. Any landing on Taiwan’s windy, shallow, and rocky beaches during that time is fraught and risky. Which is why, in the end, China decided to forego a beach landing and attempt an air assault on the island’s port and airfield facilities, the seizure of which would allow for rapid arrival of follow-on troops and logistical supplies to facilitate a successful occupation.

The operations planners in the People’s Liberation Army had had years to deliberate their invasion strategy, adjusting year after year as China’s own military capabilities grew and advanced. In the end, due to the unpredictability of the rough Taiwan Strait waters and the heavy fortifications the Taiwanese had built up around potential beach landing sites, the PLA came up with an innovative invasion plan—the opening stages of which they’d practiced repeatedly as the late 2020s unfolded. For several years, China had engaged in full-scale military exercises—loading up vast armadas of military and civilian ships with tens of thousands of troops, equipment, and matériel and heading toward Taiwan, always stopping just short of the 12-nautical-mile limit that marks the start of the island’s territorial waters. They figured they could practice with some impunity, because they knew Taiwan could never afford to respond aggressively. One of the island’s greatest defense dilemmas had long been its inability to respond to hostile provocations and threats with force—lest it be accused of instigating a conflict. US officials had warned Taiwanese leadership for years that under no circumstances could they fire the first shot—they had to take the Chinese punch before retaliating. Portraying China as the aggressor would be a critical step in building the international case that Chinese leader Xi Jinping was alone responsible for starting any war. The stakes couldn’t have been higher: After all, even if the Taiwanese fired first at the PLA armada after it crossed Taiwan’s territorial boundary, Beijing could still dispute the shooting as unprovoked and claim that it occurred in international waters—muddying the geopolitical waters such that Taiwan risked losing key moral and diplomatic support around the world. Too many countries wanted the excuse—they would only be too eager to continue trading with China, the world’s second largest economy, irrespective of the conflict. If Taiwan was to survive and rally the world to its cause, it couldn’t afford to offer that excuse.

The final Chinese PLA plan counted on precisely that Taiwanese restraint when China’s ships entered Taiwan’s waters and closed in on the vital northwestern coastal Port of Taipei, a modern facility completed in 2012 that boasted 4,500 feet of so-called berth space, a substantial amount of space available for cargo offloading. There the PLA planned to leverage existing infrastructure to rapidly unload hundreds of thousands of troops and thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, heavy engineering equipment, weapons, munitions, and the logistics supplies needed for the conquest of the island. While Taipei wasn’t the largest port in Taiwan, the rapid capture of its docks was essential to the success of the operation, since other Taiwanese port facilities were too far away from the capital city. That distance and Taiwan’s extensive array of steep mountains and winding rivers made the rapid transport of a large PLA armored force from any other port or beach to the capital all but impossible.

The operational plan called for moving eight modern Type 075 Yushen-class amphibious assault ships, each with more than 30,000-ton displacement, right up to Taiwan’s maritime border, while being protected by PLA Navy (PLAN) guided-missile destroyers. Xi Jinping’s regime had rapidly constructed the Yushen ships specifically with this mission in mind; each was a highly capable delivery platform for air assault operations, carrying a mix of up to 28 attack and heavy transport helicopters and 800 troops. In the early morning hours, once the final order was given, 200 Z-8 and Z-20 transport helicopters, all backed up by Z-10 attack gunships, would take off from the ship landing docks and head for the Taipei port, as well as the Taoyuan International Airport, 10 miles south, and the smaller Taipei Songshan Airport, located right in the center of the capital city, just three miles north of the Zhongzheng government district. The plan called for helicopters to make the journey in 10 minutes. (Ironically, these aircraft were built based on legally acquired Western technology—the Z-8 came from an original French-licensed design and the Z-20 from the UH-60 Black Hawk, which America had sold to China in the 1980s. The Z-10 was built with Pratt & Whitney engines and assisted by European Airbus and AgustaWestland transmission and rotor installation designs.)

The heliborne brigades of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) Airborne Corps, China’s equivalent to the United States’ 101st Airborne Division, would assault, capture, and secure the port and airport facilities, in preparation for follow-on forces with armored vehicles that would land at the airfields on the Chinese Y-20 and Russian-made IL-76 troop transport planes. As those transport planes descended, dozens of large roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferries and vehicle transport ships—all built with “national defense requirements” and appropriated from Chinese industry by the PLAN—would rush into the captured port and unload tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of additional tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Anticipating that the Taiwanese might manage to destroy the port’s infrastructure ahead of the Chinese landing, the PLA has spent years practicing rapid offloading of these vessels in ports with minimal cargo handling infrastructure, such as a lack of pier-side ramps or tugboat support. Simultaneously, PLAAF land-based missiles, rockets, and bombers, along with attack aircraft deployed from two Chinese carriers positioned off Taiwan’s eastern coast, would pummel Taiwan’s air bases in an attempt to take the island’s relatively small air force out of commission before it could get into the fight—destroying runways, fuel depots, and maintenance infrastructure and targeting the island’s prized fleet of F-16 fighter jets. Mainland-based precision-guided ballistic and cruise missiles, together with long-range, truck-mounted PHL-16 multiple rocket launchers and kamikaze drones, would all target stationary radars, fixed weapons platforms, critical command, control, communications nodes, naval facilities, energy infrastructure, and TV and radio transmission towers to sow chaos and impede the highly centralized decisionmaking of the Taiwanese military. American-built Patriot air defense batteries, as well as Taiwan’s indigenously developed Sky Bow systems, troop barracks, and anti-ship batteries were also high priority targets.

By Martin Cizmar

By Mark Harris

By Eric Ravenscraft

By Adrienne So

Achieving the invasion’s main political objective—the rapid assault and capture of key government installations in Taipei, including the Presidential Office Building and the Ministry of National Defense—relied on assault forces delivered by dozens of fast Type 726 Yuyi-class air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC) racing up the Tamsui River. The wide but relatively shallow river snakes through the mountains that separate the beaches on Taiwan’s western shore from the center of the city and empties into the strait in the Bali district right next to the Port of Taipei; its tributaries pass near most of the key government installations in the city. That geography meant that the LCACs—deployed from the Yushen amphibious ships sitting at the mouth of the Tamsui and powered by large gas turbines and capable of achieving speeds of 80 knots—could deliver a battalion of marines and armored vehicles directly into the heart of Taipei’s government district in under 15 minutes. The one-two punch of the fast boats advancing up the river while airborne troops landed via rotor and fixed-wing aviation at the Taipei Songshan Airport would allow the PLA to rapidly bring the fight to Taiwan’s seat of government. While the PLAN marines captured Taipei’s government and communications centers, the armored and infantry divisions would arrive on the island’s northwestern coast, unload at the port and nearby airport on the other side of the mountains from Taipei city center, and then drive onto the highways that encircle Taiwan, racing toward the key population centers and military bases and hoping to overwhelm defenses. Having exercised each element of the plan for years, including simulated fast LCAC-boat city assaults on the Pearl River near Hong Kong, Xi Jinping’s military generals assured him that the plan would achieve a rapid conquest of Taiwan before the rest of the world, especially the United States, had a chance to intervene to save the island.

Xi Jinping chose November 13, 2028, as China’s D-Day, loading up his invasion fleet and issuing his final ultimatum.

With little to show after years of so-called gray zone tactics aimed at nonviolently forcing Taiwan to choose political unification with the Chinese mainland—tactics that ranged from constant economic and military pressure to social and traditional media influence campaigns to bribing and blackmailing of politicians—Xi had finally concluded that only military force would bring about achievement of this long-desired objective. As the 2020s progressed, Chinese military planners had presented one alternative strategy after another, including a last-chance alternative to an all-out invasion: a naval and air blockade aimed at isolating the island, which was heavily reliant on food and energy imports, and forcing its surrender without a fight. But in meeting after meeting, presentation after presentation, war game after war game, the blockade seemed unlikely to succeed. Xi worried that America would undermine the blockade with its formidable underwater and surface naval fleet and air power; he also worried about the economic effects—how the rest of the world would react to a prolonged confrontation across the strait that would surely cause a humanitarian disaster on the island and supply chain disruptions beyond it, ripples that would impact China itself. The United States and its allies might even launch a counterblockade of Chinese maritime oil and gas imports, a move that could paralyze China before its own blockade took a decisive toll on Taiwan. Any Chinese naval blockade was also likely to provoke Taiwan to take the one step it had never yet formally done, declaring full independence and irrevocably changing the geopolitical status quo. And perhaps most crucially for Xi, the approach of laying a prolonged siege to the island ran counter to his strong preference for resolving China’s Taiwan problem in a rapid and decisive manner—to rip off the Band-Aid and present the world with the fait accompli of Chinese conquest and the long-awaited integration of Taiwan into the People’s Republic of China.

Thus, after spending that summer and fall in strategy sessions, briefings, and quiet lone contemplation at Beidaihe (the Communist Party elite’s seaside retreat) and in the party’s Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing, Xi had settled on an invasion. As he concluded, if he was to take the step of mobilizing the military, risk a conflict with America, and cause a potential global backlash, it was best to go all the way and try to end it as quickly as possible. Victory, he’d been told by his generals and military advisers, would be swift, and the Taiwanese resistance would be quickly vanquished. They had assured him that China’s decades-long investment in new military systems, weapons, and training would be decisive. It wasn’t even clear to Xi and the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission that the Americans would ultimately choose to fight for Taiwan once they saw the might of the China invasion fleet, once they calculated the price of the war in tens of thousands of American lives. Even if they did fight, the US military was far away—nearly 500 miles away on Okinawa or 1,700 miles away in Guam. “We can hold them at bay long enough while our airborne assault units quickly secure key critical infrastructure resources on the island, and our landing force rapidly crosses the strait and secures the rest of the country to create a sense of fait accompli,” Xi’s top military adviser had promised in the final briefing the previous week. Xi believed the time for hesitancy was over. The time to act was now. As he saw it, victory would be his and his place in history assured; his ascent into the pantheon of Chinese historical leaders would be unmatched.

For the West, the warning signs had been there all year, but the distracted United States had failed to heed them until it was too late. The groundwork for the invasion had begun in the fall of 2027, when Xi Jinping was reelected as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, entering his third decade in power. At 75, he was the oldest Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping. That fall, in his speech to the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party—always the party’s most important event—Xi proclaimed that the next five years would be the time when China would finally achieve its dream—his dream—of “national rejuvenation.”

Taiwan, meanwhile, had held a quadrennial presidential election in early January, resulting in the victory (and May inauguration) of a pro-independence, center-left candidate from the island’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)—a political shift and repudiation of the Kuomintang and the pan-Blue coalition that had sought to preserve closer ties between the Chinese mainland and the Republic of China. Xi saw the election as the final nail in the coffin of China’s desire to bring about unification with Taiwan without resorting to the use of force. The relations between Taipei and Beijing had deteriorated steadily since the 2016 election of President Tsai, also of the DPP, as successive DPP candidates for presidency repeatedly proclaimed, “Taiwan does not need to declare independence because it is already an independent nation,” a line that enraged Beijing.

And yet as the warning signs had gathered in the Pacific, the United States had found itself preoccupied—the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles had presented a captivating pageantry of nations, full of soft-focus TV feature stories and host-nation pride. The Olympic festivities had merged into wall-to-wall coverage of another contentious and fraught fall presidential election building up to the November 7 Election Day, a contest that piled on top of 34 Senate contests—including fierce, expensive battles in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada—that had consumed the national media attention. As in many election years, Congress itself had adjourned for the fall in early September, and its members spent much of the summer on the campaign trail.

As was customary, the outgoing presidential administration had begun transition conversations with both major party nominees, but the truth was most of the experienced government hands had left for the private sector earlier in the year. The White House, Pentagon, and State Department were shorthanded, and org charts were riddled with “acting” officials meant to serve out just a few weeks longer.

Throughout much of the year, some of those acting officials had tried to raise warnings about Taiwan. Boeing was finally on track to complete the delivery of 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles in early 2029, missiles Taiwan had originally ordered in 2023. Beijing had warned in a January statement that the delivery of these missiles to Taiwan was unacceptable to China and would present a major threat to its naval forces—something the PLAN had said it couldn’t and wouldn’t tolerate.

Throughout late summer 2028, even as the Olympics dominated the news coverage, media reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times had cited anonymous intelligence community sources pointing to significant troop buildups at PLAN’s East Sea Fleet port facilities of Ningbo, Xiamen, Xiangshan, and Zhoushan. Satellite photos showed new temporary housing being built to house substantial numbers of PLA ground forces. (Some pundits had pointed out that the reporting in many ways mirrored the prescient intelligence-community warnings from 2021 and 2022 about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it was a tough year to get Americans to pay attention to an island on the other side of the world.) Open-source satellite imagery had tracked the movement of a dozen of Chinese amphibious assault ships and destroyers from the South Sea Fleet ports to Xiamen, the port facing Taiwan across the hundred-mile strait.

Whereas in 2021 and 2022, a constant stream of world leaders and US officials had shuttled among European capitals and Moscow to discuss Russia’s worrisome military buildup along the borders of Ukraine and to try to discourage Vladimir Putin from launching an invasion, in 2028 Beijing had remained beyond reach. Xi and the Chinese Communist Party resisted any and all efforts at international dialogue—rejecting meetings, summits, or visiting delegations that might deescalate the crisis. China kept characteristically silent as these troubling developments unfolded; over and over again, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson had responded to queries with a simple “We do not comment on internal Chinese national security matters that should be of no concern to foreign parties.”

The morning after the US election—even before the presidential winner was known or the balance of the US Congress could be predicted—the outgoing White House national security adviser held a press conference to announce that the United States had developed “high-confidence all-source” intelligence indicating that China was planning to launch an invasion of Taiwan in the coming weeks. The national security adviser revealed that the United States was sharing that intelligence with NATO allies, Japan, Australia, and Taiwan; she added that China had begun moving heavy weaponry—tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems—as well as logistics such as food rations, water, and munitions to naval port facilities in the East China Sea for loading onto ships. PLAN had also started absorbing large civilian cargo ships and China’s armed coast guard vessels under its command. Meanwhile, the United States was also moving another aircraft carrier battlegroup to the region—the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the world’s biggest warship, was coming from its port in San Diego and was scheduled to arrive in 10 days, the White House announced, to complement the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) currently streaming toward Guam; a third carrier, officials whispered to the press, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), would probably be able to deploy by the end of the month.

That afternoon, from Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson denied the “White House lies” and proclaimed that “China is a peace-loving nation, and it’s America that continually wages wars of aggression.” He also said that Taiwan remained an internal China issue of vital importance to the Chinese people and that China expected all nations to abide by their One China principle commitments and not violate Chinese sovereignty.

The BBC and French BFM-TV both reported on November 9 that Chinese ambassadors appeared to have fanned out across European capitals denying that China was preparing an invasion. At the same time, the news channels reported that each ambassador brought with them a highly detailed and customized presentation showing the economic ties, trade, and key import/exports between the respective European countries and China, as well as a historic recounting of the One China principle. (The One China principle is a unilateral and not widely recognized position held by the Chinese Communist Party that the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate sovereign state under the name of “China” and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of it. The One China policy, on the other hand, is a US diplomatic position of strategic ambiguity on the issue that merely “acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China”—but importantly does not endorse the Chinese position.) The ambassadors all privately delivered a seemingly boilerplate and coordinated communication that, should any war break out in the Taiwan Strait, it would be the fault of the Taiwanese secessionist government and their American enablers—a situation, they implied, that it would be best for Europe to stay out of. They all expressed their hope for continued peaceful development of economic ties between China and its European partners.

It was only around 3 pm on Saturday, November 11, that the US presidential election had a declared winner, once CNN announced that the leader in preelection polls had climbed over the 270 electoral vote mark. (Other networks followed suit shortly.)

And then, at noon Beijing time on Monday, November 13, 2028—around 11 pm the evening of Sunday the 12th in Washington, DC—having completed its military buildup and with its forces poised to invade, China issued an ultimatum to Taipei demanding that the Democratic Progressive Party president sign an agreement to voluntarily and peacefully join the People’s Republic of China or face immediate consequences.

It took less than an hour for Taiwan to publicly reject the blackmail threat, and the Taiwanese president spoke on national radio and television shortly after 6 pm Taipei time (5 am Washington time). Four minutes into the president’s remarks, the internet across the island went offline, television screens across Taiwan went blank, and the radio stations went silent. Notably, though, the electrical power stayed on at the Tainan Science Park, where the high-tech chip fabs of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company continued to churn away.

Earlier that night, a phone rang in the Situation Room at the White House, as did another in the sensitive compartmented information facility installed in the Madison, Wisconsin, hotel where the president-elect had set up the transition headquarters. As the incoming national security adviser went to wake the president-elect, in DC, the outgoing national security adviser went to wake the president, replaying in her mind on the way up the stairs to the Executive Residence the years of the Pentagon’s own war-game assessments of the terrible costs of potential war with China over Taiwan.

Tens of thousands of American personnel would be killed within days, while hundreds of aircraft and dozens of naval ships would be lost. In addition, air bases—such as Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Japan’s main island, and Andersen Air Force Base on Guam—would be bombed, and worse, ballistic missiles might even target sites in the continental United States, like Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado in San Diego Bay and Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the base of the long-range B-2 bombers. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has also long warned that Chinese cyberattacks would almost certainly be launched against America’s energy and transportation infrastructure; this was a conflict that would be felt in every corner of the US economy. And then there was the risk of a nuclear exchange, the probability of which was hard to estimate but couldn’t be dismissed. This was no limited conflict, like Iraq or Afghanistan, or even a large-scale war like Vietnam or Korea.

No, the national security adviser thought, should the president and America decide to defend Taiwan, war with China would be unlike anything the country had experienced since World War II.

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Battle of Okinawa: The Most Intense Battle of WWII’s Pacific Theater

B efore the realization of the atomic bomb, the American plan was to invade the Japanese home islands. The expected conclusion to the fighting in the Pacific Theater would not be easy. In fact, it was projected that the Japanese would fight even harder. Against soldiers who were willing to use suicidal waves of kamikaze attacks, the Americans knew that the upcoming battle would be more intense than any they had suffered before.

The start of the plan to invade the Japanese Home Islands entailed the amphibious landing on the island of Okinawa. The bloody fighting that took place informed the Americans that defeating Japan once and for all would be a task of extreme proportions, drenched in blood and misery.

The Battle of Okinawa was a taste of what was to come.

Preparations

The Americans knew that taking Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, would be a monumental task, and the body count would be extraordinarily high. The island was perfect for the defenders. In the south, there were limestone cliffs, while in the north, the island was filled with rugged hills and ravines.

Additionally, the island had over 400,000 native Okinawans living on it, and the Japanese had prepared them to resist any American attempts at invasion. Through propaganda, the Japanese instilled fear in the Okinawans. This effort was helped by the Americans, who had been bombing the island since September 1944, reducing the capital of Naha to rubble.

The Japanese, being outnumbered, would have to make good use of these natural defenses. They were no strangers to this kind of warfare and had learned lessons from years of fighting against the Chinese on the mainland and the Allies in the Pacific. Mustering around 80,000 soldiers, the Japanese forces were bolstered by another 40,000 Okinawans conscripted to fight against the Americans. These forces also included 1,790 schoolboys aged between 14 and 17.

The American battle order had Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner in charge until the amphibious landing, at which point Admiral Raymond A. Spruance would take over overall command. Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was in charge of the ground forces.

General Mitsuru Ushijima was in charge of the Japanese 32nd Army, which constituted virtually the entirety of the ground forces.

The American plan called for an amphibious landing on a strip of beaches on the island’s west coast. From there, the American forces would drive inland, capturing the airfields at Yontan and Kadena before venturing north and south.

For this purpose, the Americans would have numerical superiority over the Japanese. One hundred eighty thousand combat troops would be involved, with constant reinforcements boosting the total to 250,000 as the operation dragged on.

The invasion date for “Operation Iceberg” was set for April 1. On March 24, American troops began disembarking on smaller islands around Okinawa in preparation for the invasion. On March 29, the American fleet moved into position and began the bombardment, preparing the way for American troops.

The Battle Begins

On the morning of April 1, the landing craft sailed towards the beaches on the west coast of Okinawa. Expecting heavy fighting, the American troops were naturally nervous, but they encountered only sporadic resistance when they landed. This landing involved a total of 60,000 American soldiers and marines in what would be the largest amphibious landing of the Pacific Theater during the Second World War.

Admiral Mitsuru Ushijima, in charge of the Japanese forces, had decided not to contest the landings. Knowing his forces would likely be outnumbered, he did not want to waste his soldiers. Instead, he used the island’s natural features to strike where he could and inflict the most damage with minimal losses.

The Japanese had retreated to the mountainous areas of the island, where they had constructed numerous bunkers and tunnel systems.

By April 2, the two airfields near the landing grounds were secured, and American forces continued their push against light Japanese resistance. On April 5, they reached the island’s east coast, effectively splitting the island in two. From this point, the US Army pushed south, and the US Marines pushed north. As they did so, the Japanese resistance began to stiffen, and the illusion of an easy victory for the Americans began to vanish.

On April 6, the Japanese air campaign began, and the American fleet became the target of the mass use of kamikaze attacks launched from Kyushu and Formosa (Taiwan). In addition to the air assault, kamikaze boats were also used. From April 6-7, over 350 kamikaze attacks were made on the American fleet. Despite the ferocity of the kamikaze storm, it was not as effective as the Japanese had hoped.

It is true that a large number of American ships were sunk, but none were larger than a destroyer, leaving fleet carriers, battleships, and cruisers damaged but able to weather the storm intact.

Supported by the wave of kamikaze attacks, the Japanese battleship Yamato entered the fray. The Japanese had also hoped the power of the biggest battleship ever built would turn the tide, but it was an easy target for carrier-based planes. The sinking of the Yamato signaled the end of the era of battleships and Japan’s ability to produce any effective naval resistance to the American fleet.

Bloody Fighting

The advance had been steady in the north, and by April 7, Japanese forces on the Motobu Peninsula had been trapped. This represented the vast majority of the Japanese forces in the north of the island.

On April 13, the Americans had advanced to the northernmost post of the island, Hedo Point. The battle for the Motobu Peninsula ensued and was marked by Japanese suicide attacks.

Meanwhile, the tiny island of Iejima off the coast of the Motobu Peninsula was the site of an amphibious landing by the Americans. Like elsewhere on Okinawa, the defenders used mass waves of suicide attacks. Here, there were also women armed with spears who resisted the American landing. From April 16, the fighting raged on this island before being declared secure on April 21. This was also the site where the American journalist Ernie Pyle was killed by machine gun fire on April 18.

On the Motobu Peninsula, the US forces made significant progress by capturing Mount Yaedake, the main defensive position of the Japanese.

In the south, the American advance was temporarily halted by rugged resistance from the Japanese using the tight-knit ridges to their favor. Despite the advantage of these confined spaces in halting the American advance, they also became deathtraps for the Japanese as they increased the casualty rate from American artillery, which had been brought forward to prepare the American advance.

The fights for Kakazu Ridge, Nishibaru Ridge, and Tombstone Hill ended up becoming a bloodbath, claiming the lives of over 450 American soldiers and over 5,000 Japanese. The casualty rate had a huge impact on Japanese morale, and they fell back further south to a new defensive line, which included the infamous Maeda Escarpment, commonly known as “Hacksaw Ridge,” where the Americans encountered particularly harsh resistance and suffered terrible losses.

This is where the famous Desmond Doss won his Medal of Honor. A conscientious objector, he refused to carry a gun and was inducted into the forces as a medic. On Hacksaw Ridge, he rescued, under fire, countless American and Japanese soldiers who had been wounded. His story was made into a major motion picture released in 2016.

All through April, the US soldiers inched slowly forward, battering against Japanese defenses and fighting through the confines that demanded attrition as the only way to gain victory.

The US advance was halted again, and attrition was so bad that the soldiers had to be rotated out and replaced with Marines. Noticing the American movements, on May 4, the commander of the Japanese forces in the area, Major-General Isamu Chō , ordered an amphibious maneuver to attack the Americans from behind. To support this attempt, the Japanese had to move their artillery out into the open, where they became easy targets for American counter-battery fire. In the end, the attempt to attack the Americans from the rear failed, and the Japanese had to return to a defensive stance and grind down the Americans via attrition.

Monsoon rains throughout the rest of May turned the battlefield to mud, and the scenes became reminiscent of the trenches and no-man’s land of the First World War . Rotting human corpses and garbage littered the ground, and maggots were everywhere, turning the soldiers’ lives into a living hell.

Meanwhile, on the north of the island, constituting some of the last defenders on Motobu Peninsula, a company of Japanese commandos destroyed 70,000 US gallons of fuel and nine planes in a suicide attack before being killed. That same day, the US Marines entered the outskirts of the Okinawan capital of Naha and found it deserted. Carefully, they spread through the city and secured it, which took until May 27.

At the same time, the battleship USS Mississippi opened fire on Shuri Castle two miles to the east of Naha. When the American soldiers reached the castle on May 29, they found it to be deserted. The whole defensive line had been abandoned, and 30,000 Japanese troops had moved south to join up with another 10,000 soldiers, taking up final defensive positions to the southwest of Naha on the Oroku Peninsula.

On June 4, the US launched an amphibious assault on the peninsula. Their first target was the airfield in which 4,000 Japanese sailors were holed up. All 4,000 defenders, including their commander, Admiral Ōta, committed suicide.

What was left of the Japanese army was driven east and south to a small pocket on the south of Okinawa. On June 18, with the conclusion of the battle in no doubt, General Simon Buckner, in overall command of the ground forces, was killed by Japanese artillery fire.

By June 21, the fighting was over. The vast majority of the Japanese forces who were not killed in the fighting, much of it by suicide attacks, committed seppuku. Of all the Japanese commanders, only Colonel Yahara was left alive. Admiral Ushijima had ordered him not to commit suicide, as the Battle of Okinawa needed a witness to be able to tell the story of what had happened.

The high number of suicides was in part due to the belief among the Japanese that the Americans did not take prisoners, and anyone attempting to surrender would be shot on site. The Japanese committed suicide en masse, mostly by jumping off cliffs or shooting themselves.

In total, around 77,000 Japanese soldiers died, with many thousands of Okinawan conscripts joining them. The official US estimate puts the Japanese body count at over 110,000 fighters.

In contrast, the Americans suffered 50,000 casualties, with 12,000 of them being deaths.

During the naval part of the operation, the Japanese launched over 1,000 kamikaze attacks. This represented the biggest usage of such tactics during the entire war.

The Battle of Okinawa was a bloodbath. For such a tiny piece of land, the casualty rate was enormous.

Ultimately, the invasion was mostly unnecessary. The island was invaded out of the need for a foothold from which to launch a campaign against the Japanese Home Islands. This plan never came to fruition, as the atomic bomb would end the war much sooner.