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Originally Posted by Code_Havoc
Air invasion is an option, but it's a very risky one, especially since in the begining they wouldn't hold any land, so the transports would be getting shot at from all directions (which brings into it the importance of an air force). And assuming a massive air transport was successful and say 10k soldiers were on the ground...now what? 10k is a large number yes, but 10k soldiers in the middle of Taiwan with how much help? And limited resources? Air transport would be more beneficial if China had control of some parcel of land inside Taiwain.
Holding the Taiwan Strait would actually be quite difficult if the US was involved. When you consider how small it is, a combined US Naval attack from North and South at the same time would sandwich their Navy, and no matter how strong it is, that is a tough position to fight yourself out of. Obviously doable, but the sustained losses would be a major impact in the long-term of a war.
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I would think they would try a combined air/amphibious landing. I would think that before they tried to land anybody they would have already pounded the island so that resistance is minimal. They have the ability to hit Taiwan from the mainland, which they demonstrated a few years ago when they launched a missile over the island. I imagine they would pound Taiwan from the mainland as well as the air and sea before attempting any landing of troops.
As for holding the Taiwan Strait I agree it would be difficult. China needs to do a lot of building before it gets there. With a big enough navy, however, I think it can accomplish this. It does have the advantage of mainland defenses assisting in the fighting. This is also where satellite technology comes in. US satellite technology would allow the US to efficiently target Chinese defenses. Without the same ability China would be at an extreme disadvantage. Although I imagine that Russia might share some of its space technology as well....