The red flags that will tell us when China’s actually ready to invade Taiwan [Video]

Tensions between China and Taiwan are reaching a boiling point, and many signs point to Chinese military action to seize the island by force, possibly in just a few years.

While a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be an incredibly complex and dangerous operation, influential China watchers are sounding the alarms over preparations almost certainly needed to seize the island — a buildup of China’s naval forces, energy and food stockpiles, and large-scale military drills just off its coast.

“I don’t think they lack for anything that they need,” Lyle Goldstein, director of Asia engagement at Defense Priorities, said of China’s forces. “You could always ask the question, ‘Could they be more ready?’ and I suppose there are some certain areas, but I, for a long time, maintained they have what they need to undertake the campaign.”

What China needs for an all-out attack