China sent planes and ships to encircle Taiwan on Monday as part of maneuvers designed at sending a “stern message” to “separatist” forces on the self-ruled island.
Beijing has not ruled out use force to seize Taiwan, and Monday’s drills are the fourth set of large-scale war rehearsals in the last two years.
China’s drills come only days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken advised Beijing against acting in reaction to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s address during the island’s National Day celebrations.
Lai, who entered office in May, has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in supporting Taiwan’s sovereignty, infuriating Beijing, which refers to him as a “separatist”. Taiwan slammed the current exercises as “irrational and provocative” and stated that it had despatched “appropriate forces” in response.
As reported by AFP journalists, four fighter planes took off on Monday near Taiwan’s northwest military base in Hsinchu.
Beijing warned that the drills, known as Joint Sword-2024B, would “call to question the joint operational capacity of the regional command’s forces.”
They are now taking place “areas to the north, south, and east of Taiwan Island,” noted Captain Li Xi, a spokesperson for China’s Eastern Theater Command.
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According to Li, the drills are “that focuses on subjects such as sea-air combat readiness patrol, blockade of key harbors and localities.”
They also practiced “assault on maritime and ground targets” and “joint seizure of absolute dominance”.
The Chinese navy was also dispatched to conduct “inspections” of the islands.
The coast guard produced a diagram that showed four fleets around Taiwan and traveling anticlockwise around the island.
Taiwan reported encountering “convoys” of Chinese navy ships “in our northern, southwest, and eastern seas”.
China increased military operations surrounding Taiwan
In recent years, China has increased military operations surrounding Taiwan, sending in bombers and other military aircraft, while its ships maintain a nearly constant presence in the island’s waters.
Taiwan said on Sunday that a Chinese airplane carrier unit was observed to the southwest in the Bashi Channel, which borders the island from the Philippines, and appeared to be heading for the western Pacific.
“In the event of a hostile threat, all soldiers and commanders in Taiwan are fully ready,” the defense ministry stated Monday.The Chinese navy was also dispatched to conduct “inspections” of the islands.
“We continue unified in our commitment to ensure national defence stability.” Provocations are used.In his Thursday expression, Lai vowed to “resist seizure” of the island, stressing that Beijing and Taipei were “not subordinate to each another.” Following the speech, China said that Lai’s “provocations” will lead to “calamity” for the Taiwanese people. On Monday, Beijing declared the drills to be “a legitimate request for defending state power and national unification”. CCTV, Beijing’s state television, aired a video declaring that “the larger the cause of worry, the more tightly controlled the reins.”
The ongoing conflict between China and Taiwan stems from a civil war in which Mao Zedong’s communist troops defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s rebels and retreated to Taiwan in 1949. Lai’s The Democratic Development Party has long defended Taiwan’s sovereignty and the rule of law, citing the island’s own government, armed forces, and currency. Beijing has attempted to remove Taiwan from the global scene by excluding it from international gatherings and seizing its diplomatic friends.
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