- In short: China launched exercises in the Taiwan Strait in response to “separatist actions.”
Heavily armed warplanes were dispatched and simulated attacks were carried out, while state media condemned new President Lai Ching-te three days after taking office. - What’s next?: Taiwan’s Defense Ministry condemned the drills and sent troops to areas around the island.
- A research fellow at Taiwan’s largest military think tank said it was China’s way of showing its ability to control the sea and deter the involvement of foreign powers.
An angry China launched “punitive” maneuvers around Taiwan in what it described as a response to “separatist actions”, sent heavily armed warplanes and staged mock attacks, while state media condemned new President Lai Ching-ti.
The maneuvers, taking place around the Taiwan Strait and clusters of Taiwan-controlled islands off the Chinese coast, came just three days after Lai, a man Beijing dislikes as a “separatist”, took office. Is.
China, which considers democratically ruled Taiwan its own territory, condemned Mr Lai’s inaugural speech on Monday local time, when he called on China to stop its threats and said the two sides of the strait were “respectful to each other”. Are not subject.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday described Lai as “disrespectful”.
Mr Lai has repeatedly offered to negotiate with China, but has been rebuffed. He says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said it launched joint military exercises involving the Army, Navy, Air Force and missile forces in areas around Taiwan at 7:45 a.m.
The exercises are taking place in the Taiwan Strait, northern, southern and eastern Taiwan, as well as in areas around the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuxiu and Dongyin, the command said in a statement.
Chinese official media said China sent dozens of fighter planes with live missiles and carried out simulated attacks along with warships on high-value military targets.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry condemned the drills, saying it had sent troops to areas around the island, its air defense and ground missile forces were tracking targets, and it was confident in its ability to defend its territory. .
“Launching military exercises on this occasion not only contributes to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, but also exposes the (Chinese) military mentality,” the ministry said.
Taiwan’s presidential office expressed regret that China threatens the island’s democratic independence and regional peace and stability with its “unilateral military provocations”, but said the people can rest assured that Taiwan can guarantee its security.
CCTV said Mr Lai’s inaugural speech was “extremely damaging” and that China’s retaliatory measures were “legitimate, legal and necessary”.
He said Lai’s speech was an acknowledgment of Taiwan’s desire for independence and the undermining of cross-Strait peace and stability.
He said Taiwan’s future can only be decided by China’s 1.4 billion people, not just Taiwan’s 23 million people.
No surprise:
A senior Taiwanese official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters the drills were part of a scenario Taiwan had anticipated and that the island’s government had a “comprehensive understanding” of China’s military activities. .
Taiwanese officials said in the period before the inauguration that they were monitoring Chinese military activities. The last time China held large-scale maneuvers near Taiwan was in 2023 and 2022.
The Chinese military said the exercises focused on joint naval and air combat readiness patrols, precision strikes on key targets and integrated operations inside and outside the island chain to test the “real joint combat capabilities” of the forces.
“It is also a stern punishment for the separatist actions of Taiwan Independence Forces and a stern warning against interference and provocation by outside forces,” the leadership said.
Chinese state media published a map of training areas in five regions of Taiwan and Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast.
Taiwanese officials told Reuters those areas were outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles off the coast of the main island.
China has not declared any no-fly zones, and Taiwan has seen no large-scale activity by Chinese ground and missile forces, one of the officials said.
Su Tzu-yun, a research fellow at the National Defense and Security Research Institute, Taiwan’s largest military think tank, said that although the exercises will last only two days, their scope is larger than previous exercises, as they include Taiwan’s outer islands. Are included. ,
He said it was aimed at demonstrating China’s ability to control the sea and prevent the involvement of foreign powers.
“The political signals here are bigger than the military signals,” he said.
There were no signs of concern in Taiwan, where people have long become accustomed to Chinese military activity.
In August 2022, China launched live-fire military exercises around Taiwan shortly after the visit of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which was strongly condemned by Beijing.
This unprecedented series of exercises lasted four days, followed by several days of additional training.
