Taiwan condemns Chinese military exercises around the island, calling them an “unreasonable provocation.”

Hong Kong/Taipei
CNN
—

Taiwan has condemned the latest round of Chinese military exercises around the self-ruled island as an “unreasonable provocation” after Beijing deployed warships and fighter planes in what it called a “stern warning” of “separatist actions of Taiwan independence forces.”

Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese Army He said on Monday He said the exercises, which include joint operations by the army, navy, air force and missile forces, are taking place in the Taiwan Strait – a narrow body of water separating the island from mainland China – as well as encircling Taiwan.

Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, a democracy with a population of 23 million, have become increasingly frequent in recent years and tend to coincide with events that have angered Beijing.

Analysts said Monday’s drills were part of an overall strategy to keep Taiwan under pressure and normalize regular war games.

In August 2022, China launched a week of military exercises after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island.

Similar maneuvers came in May after the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing denounced as a “dangerous separatist.” The latest exercise bears the code name Joint Sword-2024B, which means it is a follow-up to the exercise conducted five months ago that bore the same name.

Prior to the training, the Eastern Theater Command published, through its social media accounts, a propaganda video clip entitled “Ready for Battle.”

The approximately one-minute video shows fighter planes, warships and amphibious assault ships in the air and at sea, as well as mobile missile launchers being moved into place. The accompanying text stated that the command was “ready for battle at all times and can fight at any time.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that it strongly condemned the drills, calling them an “unreasonable provocation” by China and saying it had sent its special forces.

A statement issued by the presidential office in Taiwan called on China to “stop military provocations that undermine regional peace and stability, and stop threatening democracy and freedom in Taiwan.”

She added that President Lai held national security meetings to discuss the response to the exercises.

“In the face of external threats, I would like to assure my compatriots that the government will continue to defend the democratic and free constitutional order, safeguard democratic Taiwan, and safeguard national security,” Lai said in a Facebook post.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning entered the waters near the strategic Bashi Channel south of Taiwan, which separates the island from the Philippines. Later, the Eastern Theater Command confirmed that the carrier squadron was conducting exercises east of Taiwan on “ship-aircraft coordination, joint air control, and sea and land strikes,” according to CCTV.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that “Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Strait are incompatible, and provocations by Taiwan independence forces will inevitably be confronted.”

The drills came after President Lai delivered a speech marking Taiwan’s National Day on Thursday, saying the island “does not belong” to China and that Beijing “has no right to represent Taiwan.”

The speech came after previous statements in which Lai said it was “absolutely impossible” for Communist China to become Taiwan’s motherland and that Taiwan had already become a “sovereign and independent country.”

Lai has long faced Beijing’s wrath over his defense of Taiwan’s sovereignty and his rejection of the Chinese Communist Party’s claims to sovereignty over the island.

Although it has never controlled Taiwan, China’s ruling Communist Party has pledged “reunification” with the self-governing democratic country, by force if necessary. But many people on the island consider themselves distinctly Taiwanese and have no desire to be part of the People’s Republic of China.

Successive Chinese leaders have vowed to one day control Taiwan. But Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive leader in decades, has intensified his rhetoric and aggression against the democratic island nation, inflaming tensions across the Strait and raising fears of a military confrontation.

The People’s Liberation Army said it began the exercises on Monday “with ships and aircraft approaching the island of Taiwan in close proximity from different directions.”

The exercises focused on “naval and air combat readiness patrol, blockade of key ports and areas, assault on naval and land targets, as well as joint seizure of comprehensive superiority,” according to a statement from the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Command.

Later on Monday, the People’s Liberation Army said it had “successfully completed” the military exercises. It did not mention whether the exercises included live ammunition exercises, but they did not fire any missiles. Previous exercises in 2022 included missile launches, and as a result were seen as more provocative.

“Beijing is gradually, of course, trying to get everyone used to this kind of power show and becoming more susceptible to it,” Wen Te Song, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Center, told CNN.

“Beijing is trying to find ways to increase the level or geographic scope of military deployment in these military exercises,” Song explained. He added that this is enough to create a new precedent with each exercise, but carefully calibrated to avoid a “coordinated international response.”

The map issued by the command shows ongoing exercises in nine regions surrounding Taiwan as well as its outlying islands closest to mainland China.

The Chinese Coast Guard, which operates in areas around Taiwan and the remote islands of Matsu and Donjin, located off the southeastern coast of China, also participated in the exercises.

Between 5am and 4pm local time on Monday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry detected 125 Chinese fighter jets, helicopters and drones around Taiwan, including 90 that crossed the median line – an unofficial demarcation point in the Taiwan Strait that Beijing has not recognized, but… Until recently. The years were largely respectable.

A total of seven Chinese warships as well as additional coast guard vessels were spotted near the Taiwan Strait, according to the ministry.

The Taiwan Coast Guard said on Monday that it had intercepted and detained a Chinese person near the Kinmen Islands on a catamaran. The incident coincided with military training. She said that she could not rule out the possibility that this was part of China’s “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan, and that it had raised its level of alert.

Gray zone tactics refer to actions that fall short of what would be considered acts of war.

Chen Mingzhi, an associate professor at the Center for Contemporary China at National Tsinghua University, told CNN that the drills were “very dangerous” and as they “get closer and closer” they will “leave us.” [with] Very short response time.”

“We don’t like to see complacency. This is not a good thing for any normal country,” Chen said.

It is estimated that Chinese military exercises in the Western Pacific are worth billions of dollars. In 2023, China spent more than $15 billion on the deployment of its warships, most of which were tracked in the South China Sea, and on flights by its air force – most of which were recorded in the Taiwan Strait – according to Taiwanese military documents seen by the network. CNN in 2023. August, as first reported by Reuters.

During Chinese exercises around Taiwan in May, 91 warships were recorded sailing over 2,200 operating hours at an estimated cost of $12.7 million. Taiwan recorded 111 flights by Chinese aircraft, costing China about $47.8 million.

The United States said it was “deeply concerned” by the recent military exercises, describing them as “a response to military provocations to a routine annual speech” that is “unjustified and risks escalation.”

“We call on the People’s Republic of China to exercise restraint and avoid any further actions that might undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

This story has been updated with additional information.