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China has developed and militarized artificial features inside the first island chain.
China is investing heavily in capabilities to potentially control the undersea domain, an area where the United States has long held a strategic advantage.
Foundational and advanced semiconductors, which power devices like the iPhone and AI infrastructure for models like Claude and ChatGPT, are almost certainly sourced from Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping has directed the People's Liberation Army to be capable of taking Taiwan by 2027.
China's government has elevated the deep sea domain to a national security priority, on par with space and cyberspace.
China has accelerated its production of nuclear-powered submarines, launching ten in the last five years compared to just three in the preceding five-year period.
China has developed cable-cutting tools capable of operating at extreme depths.
China maintains a fleet of vessels operating near critical undersea infrastructure in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
China is deploying seabed sensors and connected networks in parts of the South and East China Sea, a system often referred to as an 'underwater Great Wall'.
China has more than doubled its submarine construction capability through massive infrastructure investments at its primary shipyards.
China is shifting its submarine production from diesel-electric to all-nuclear-powered construction.
China's ballistic missile submarines can now target portions of the United States from protected waters near China.