(CNN) — China began two days of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in what it called “punishment” for so-called “separatist acts,” days after the self-ruled island swore in a new democratically elected leader who called on Beijing to stop its intimidation tactics.
As part of the exercises, dozens of Chinese fighter jets with live ammunition carried out simulated attacks against “high-value military targets” of the “enemy” along with destroyers, frigates and fast missile boats, according to the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
The maneuvers, which began early Thursday and will encircle Taiwan, represent the first real test for the newly elected Lai Ching-te as he attempts to manage relations with the island’s powerful authoritarian neighbor.
An outdoor screen in Beijing shows images of Chinese military exercises around Taiwan. Credit: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images
China’s ruling Communist Party claims Taiwan is part of its territory, despite never controlling it, and has vowed to take the island by force if necessary.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it began joint military drills involving the Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force in areas around Taiwan at 7:45 a.m. Thursday.
The exercises are taking place in the Taiwan Strait, a narrow body of water that separates the island from mainland China, as well as north, south and east of Taiwan. They will also be carried out in areas near Taiwan’s outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin, located off the southeastern coast of China, the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army reported in a statement.
PLA Naval Colonel Li Xi, spokesman for the command, called the exercises “strong punishment for the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces and a serious warning against interference and provocation by external forces.”
A senior official responsible for Taiwan’s security affairs told CNN that as of midday Thursday, the island had detected about 30 Chinese aircraft, most of which crossed the Median Line into the air defense identification zone (ADIZ). from Taiwan. The Median Line is an informal demarcation point in the Taiwan Strait that Beijing does not recognize, but until recent years it had largely respected.
The Chinese military also deployed about a dozen warships around Taiwan, as well as a dozen coast guard vessels near Taiwan’s outlying islands, according to the official.
Taiwan deployed its own warships to control the situation, the official said, adding that no Chinese aircraft carriers had participated in the drills so far.
Sun Li-fang, spokesperson for Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, on May 23. Credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
“Irrational provocations”
Beijing despises the Taiwanese Lai as a “dangerous separatist” for defending the island’s sovereignty and identity. Lai succeeded two-term president Tsai Ing-wen in an unprecedented third consecutive term for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
Beijing condemned Lai’s inauguration speech, in which he called on China to stop bullying Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has condemned China’s exercises as “irrational provocations and actions that undermine regional peace and stability.”
In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said it had sent sea, air and ground forces in response to the exercises.
“We remain firm and moderate. We do not seek conflict, but we will not be intimidated by one. We have the confidence necessary to safeguard our national security,” he declared.
Taiwan presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement: “It is regrettable to see China threatening Taiwan’s democracy and freedom and regional peace and stability with unilateral military provocations.”
“In the face of external challenges and threats, we will continue to defend democracy and have the confidence and ability to protect national security,” Kuo added.
Lai Ching-te, new leader of Taiwan.
Taiwan’s 23 million people have long grown accustomed to the threat of China’s war games, and life continued as normal in the capital, Taipei, on Thursday.
Although the Taiwanese media reported on the Chinese exercises, it was by no means the only headline on their agenda, which also included the recent political brawls in the legislature, and even information on income tax returns during tax season. .
Taipei’s main stock index, the TAIEX, rose 0.26% by mid-afternoon.
The Chinese guided missile frigate Nantong participates in the military exercises. Credit: People’s Liberation Army/Weibo
Propaganda impulse
China’s military exercises are often both a way to appeal to domestic audiences and to signal its intentions internationally. The Chinese military and state media spread propaganda and highlighted coverage of the exercises, which remained a top topic Thursday on China’s tightly controlled social media platforms.
Footage of the exercises released by the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command showed a guided missile frigate, the Nantong, and a pilot boarding a fighter jet at a military base.
Rhetoric from Chinese state media and the People’s Liberation Army described the maneuvers as a simulated encirclement of Taiwan, and even a threat to small outlying islands near mainland China.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said multiple formations of Navy destroyers and frigates from the Eastern Theater Command “maneuvered at high speed in multiple directions in the waters surrounding Taiwan, creating an omnidirectional approach to push toward the island.”
Meanwhile, the command’s air force sent dozens of fighter jets to the main island of Taiwan and outlying islands, according to CCTV.
“Under the support and cover of the Army and the Rocket Force, multiple types of aircraft were organized and loaded with live ammunition, flew into the predetermined airspace to establish multiple attack positions, and coordinated with destroyers, frigates and fast missile boats. to simulate attacking high-value ‘enemy’ military targets and reconnaissance and patrol aircraft,” the report said.
In another report, CCTV published a series of posters of what it calls “magic weapons that kill separatists” promoting Taiwanese independence.
These include the J-20 and J-16 fighters, the Type 052 destroyer and the Type 071 amphibious transport dock, and the Dongfeng ballistic missile. Although the report did not specify whether they were being used in the ongoing drills.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te visits a military camp in Taoyuan, Taiwan, on Thursday. Credit: Ann Wang/Reuters
A Taiwanese sailor aboard a Taiwan Navy ship observes a Chinese warship, off the western coast of Taiwan, on Thursday. Credit: Taiwan Ministry of Defense/Reuters
Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said Beijing was trying to emphasize older and smaller Taiwanese weaponry.
For example, “Taiwan’s F-16s are more than 20 years old and each hour of flying time allocated to them brings the airframe and equipment closer and closer to being overhauled, putting them out of service for 1 to 4 months. “It also stresses the force overall, keeping it on edge,” he said.
Schuster said that, in addition to the exercises around the main island of Taiwan, the pressure by the Chinese Coast Guard and other forces in waters near the outlying islands controlled by Taipei is “a provocation.”
“It puts Taiwan in a bind. If they react militarily or by force, they risk triggering a conflict,” he said.
Rising tensions
Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, China has become more assertive and increased diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan, as the democratic island strengthens informal ties with the United States.
Officials in Washington had been anticipating the possibility of Chinese provocations around the inauguration for several months and had held contingency talks as part of their planning, according to the officials.
In periods of heightened tension, such as the inauguration of a new president in Taiwan, U.S. officials often prepare for a show of force from China.
“It is not surprising that every time there is an action that highlights Taiwan in the international sphere, the Chinese feel compelled to make some type of statement,” Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Stephen Sklenka said Thursday. , deputy commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, at the National Press Club of Australia.
In August 2022, China organized intense military exercises around Taiwan to show its displeasure with the visit to Taipei of the then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. Beijing fired missiles into waters surrounding the island and simulated a blockade with fighter jets and warships, in its biggest show of force in years.
A similar encirclement exercise was also carried out in April 2023.
Chinese fighter jets now fly regularly into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and across the Median Line in the Taiwan Strait, an informal demarcation point that Beijing does not recognize but until a few years ago had respected. to a large degree.
Beijing also put pressure on Lai on the eve of his inauguration. On May 15, days before Lai’s inauguration, Taipei declared it had detected 45 Chinese military aircraft around Taiwan, the highest number in a single day this year.
Evan A. Feigenbaum, vice president of studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, calls China’s latest exercises an “intimidation tactic, part of a pattern, not a sign of impending war.”
“Beijing has a robust arsenal of coercion that will mix and match, rise and fall and rise again to outline its range of options for coercing and inflicting pain,” he wrote on the social platform X.
Some defense experts noted that the name of China’s latest military drills, “Joint Sword-2024A,” suggests another round of exercises could be held later this year.
Drew Thompson, a senior researcher at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said the maneuvers were part of a pattern.
“It is neither a surprise nor a tactical response to President Lai’s speech. These exercises are part of the PLA’s long-term strategic preparations to fight and win a war against Taiwan,” he told CNN.
— CNN’s Martha Zhou contributed reporting from Beijing.
