Chinese special forces are already training to kidnap Taiwan’s president, according to media reports.

Beijing was inspired by the Americans’ success in Venezuela.

The US kidnapping operation against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro shocked and outraged Moscow and Beijing, but also inspired them. The Chinese military is already conducting training exercises to try out a similar scenario, Nikkei Asia reports .

The publication notes that China’s state-run military television recently aired footage of special forces training, which apparently involved practicing an operation to eliminate Taiwan’s leadership.

The published footage showed a military drone first observing a building with simulated targets, followed by a nighttime raid by a special forces team. Chinese television reported that the soldiers used military crossbows during this training to quietly neutralize the guards. Overall, the training raid was reportedly completed in less than two minutes.

Nikkei Asia notes that these exercises were likely intended to demonstrate the Chinese military’s ability to carry out an operation similar to the US special forces raid in Caracas.

“These exercises also appear to be aimed at intimidating the administration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te,” the publication writes, recalling that late last year, the Chinese navy surrounded Taiwan as part of large-scale military exercises, during which the Chinese also carried out “simulated attacks on key targets.”

The Chinese military has previously practiced simulating the capture of Taiwan’s leadership. In July 2015, at a military base in Inner Mongolia, Chinese troops practiced attacking a building that looked suspiciously like Taiwan’s presidential office.

(C)UNIAN 2026