China is conducting its largest and full-scale military exercises around Taiwan and its outlying islands just after Lai Ching-te, who it has branded as a ‘separatist and troublemaker,’ was sworn in as the new president of Taiwan earlier this week and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a “confession of independence”. China warned of strong reprisals to Lai’s speech, in which he also vowed to continue building Taiwan’s defence capabilities.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has denounced Lai’s inauguration speech, in which he called on China to stop its threats and said the two sides of the strait were “not subordinate to each other”.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Lai “disgraceful”. Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future, and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
The two days of drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China. As the drills, dubbed “Joint Sword-2024A”, were launched, commentary on state Chinese broadcaster CCTV declared them “a powerful disciplinary action” against Taiwanese separatism.
Reportedly, the drills were conducted by the Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Taiwacn Strait, the north, south and east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the Taiwan-con rolled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin. They involved the army, navy, air force and rocket force, sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks. Joint military drills commenced in areas around Taiwan at 7.45 am.
Chinese military experts told that the drills were partly aimed at rehearsing an economic blockade of the island. The drills aimed to strangle Taiwan’s critical Kaohsiung port to detrimentally impact its foreign trade. They would cut off Taiwan’s lifeline of energy imports as well as block the support lines that some US allies provide to Taiwan independence forces.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary. Taiwan responded quickly to China’s announcement on Thursday morning, saying it had deployed sea, air and ground forces to “defend freedom”.
Taiwan’s presidential office expressed regret that China was threatening the island’s democratic freedoms and regional peace and stability with its “unilateral military provocations,” but said people could rest assured that Taiwan could ensure its security.
Beijing, which split with Taipei at the end of a civil war in 1949, regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified. Relations have plunged in recent years as China has stepped up pressure on the democratic island of 23 million people, periodically stoking worries about a potential invasion.
A senior Taiwan official, speaking anonymously given the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that the drills are part of a scenario Taiwan had anticipated and that the island’s government had a “comprehensive grasp” of Chinese military movements. Taiwanese officials had said in the run-up to the inauguration they were keeping watch for Chinese military movements.
China had announced similar military exercises around Taiwan in August 2022, China launched live-fire military exercises around Taiwan immediately after a visit, much condemned by Beijing, by former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, that series of exercises, the scale of which was unprecedented, lasted for four days, followed by several days of additional drills.Taiwan also witnessed the similar pattern in August 2023 after Lai, then vice president, stopped over in the United States on a visit to Paraguay.
Chinese state media published a map of the drill zones, in five areas all around Taiwan and the islands Taiwan controls near the Chinese coast. Taiwanese officials told those areas were outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which is 24 nautical miles from the main island’s coast. One of the officials said China has not announced any no-fly zones, nor has Taiwan observed any large-scale movements of China’s ground and rocket forces. There was no sign of alarm in Taiwan, where people are long used to Chinese military activity.
World powers are keen to see as much stability as possible between China and Taiwan, not least because of the vital role the island plays in the global economy. The Taiwan Strait is one of the world’s most important maritime trade arteries, and the island itself is a major tech manufacturer, particularly of vital semiconductors— the tiny chips used in everything from smartphones to missile systems.
The United States switched its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 but remains the island’s most important ally and supplier of military hardware. US President Joe Biden has said he does not support Taiwan’s independence but also that he would back sending forces to defend the island. The US said that the Chinese military exercises are concerning, but not unexpected.
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