China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted a mock naval blockade of Taiwan with the assumption that the US would not intervene in such a scenario, the Washington Times reported Friday.
The paper said that US intelligence agencies detected PLA military operations last September involving a mock seaborne blockade of the island, raising fears in Washington of an increased chance of conflict.
"What was unusual about the exercises was that the scenario included the positioning of two US aircraft carrier battle groups in waters near Taiwan," an unnamed US intelligence official was quoted as saying. "The carriers just sat there."
The Chinese military's assumption that the carriers and warships did not intervene to break the blockade alarmed some analysts, the paper said.
The reason, according to the paper, is that this showed the Chinese military does not believe that the US is really prepared to defend Taiwan in that particular scenario.
The paper said that this in turn "has raised new fears of some type of miscalculation by the Chinese that could lead to direct US involvement in a regional conflict with Beijing."
The Pentagon refused to comment on the article.
A naval blockade is one of three methods outlined in a Pentagon report made public last month that could be used by China in an attack against Taiwan.
The other methods listed involve a massive missile strike and an amphibious assault on the island
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