TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China has been buying up gold and this vast treasure chest may be vital if its leaders decide to invade Taiwan, according to one correspondent.
In The Telegraph on Wednesday (May 1), reporter Matthew Henderson claims China’s gold reserves are essentially a war chest for Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平). He says Xi has for the past two years been proofing his country’s economy against international sanctions that would be levied if Taiwan was attacked.
“In the last 17 months alone, China’s declared gold reserves have soared by 17% to nearly 73 million troy ounces,” or US$170 billion (NT$5.5 trillion), Henderson said. “Concurrently, China’s foreign exchange reserves have been built up to their highest level since 2015.”
According to The Telegraph, this buildup is to achieve “combat readiness,” or “war without limits” on the way to taking Taiwan and becoming the world’s dominant power.
In support of its thesis, the UK newspaper claims China is doubling its stockpile of nuclear warheads to 1,000 by 2030. It also points to China’s militarization of space.
Furthermore, the article says China is betting on “political disarray and disunity among the US” and its Western allies, to absorb Taiwan without a fight.
“That is why this war chest matters,” the report concludes. “It is there, like Beijing’s hypersonic missiles and nuclear weapons – not to enable an attack on Taiwan at a chosen date, but to ensure that with the balance of power changing in China’s favor, it will not be needed.”
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