CNN
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The Chinese military on Tuesday said it had begun conducting joint exercises involving its army, navy, air force, and rocket force to “close in on” Taiwan from “multiple directions,” according to a statement posted on the Eastern Theater Command’s official social media account.
The drills mainly focus on sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade on key areas and sea lanes to test joint operations capabilities of China’s troops, the post said.
“It is a stern warning and forceful deterrence against ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces, and it is a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” the People’s Liberation Army said in the statement.
China claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its own and has vowed to take control of the island, by force if necessary.
Its military in recent years has ramped up regular patrols as well as military exercises in the air and waters around the island, part of a broader assertiveness of China’s territorial claims under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Major exercises often serve as means for Beijing to express displeasure with the island – as well as to better understand how Taiwan monitors and responds to military pressure from China.
China’s military has in recent years launched exercises encircling Taiwan and simulating a blockade of the island – one of the strategies that experts say could be used if Beijing ultimately decides to move to take control using military might.
Beijing has repeatedly accused Taiwan’s leaders of seeking “independence,” and views Taiwan’s leader Lai Ching-te as a “separatist,” launching large-scale drills days after Lai’s inauguration last year.
Lai, who has long been a champion of Taiwan’s sovereignty, has called on China to cease its intimidation, but has also spoken frequently of the importance of maintaining “peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Polls consistently show people in Taiwan, a thriving and outspoken democracy, have no desire to be ruled by China, an authoritarian one-party state.
Influencers and internet cables
The latest drills follow a series of incidents that have ratcheted up tensions across the Taiwan Strait, including Taipei’s detention in late February of a cargo ship crewed by Chinese nationals it was investigating for allegedly cutting an undersea internet cable in the second such incident in a period of months.
Last month, Taiwan deported a Chinese influencer for backing a military takeover of the island democracy by Beijing.
Taiwan has long been seen as a potential flashpoint that could spark hot conflict between China and the United States.
The US maintains unofficial relations with Taipei and is bound by law to provide Taiwan with weapons for its defense. Washington has long maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity on whether it would come to Taiwan’s defense in the event of an incursion from China.
Taiwan has looked on nervously as US President Donald Trump transforms Washington’s global relationships with his “America First” foreign policy, discarding decades-old guarantees towards Europe and pushing long-standing Asian allies and partners to pay more for US protection.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
