EPATaiwan scrambles fighter jets in response to China’s military exercises
China on Monday launched new military exercises off the coast of Taiwan as “punishment” for President William Lai’s speech in which he vowed to “resist annexation” or “violate sovereignty.”
China claims the autonomous island of Taiwan as its own, and President Xi Jinping has vowed to take it back by force if necessary.
Taiwan announced on Monday that it had spotted 34 naval vessels and 125 aircraft in formation around the island.
Maps published by Chinese state media showed Chinese troops positioned around the entire island. It announced late Monday that the training had concluded successfully.
The Chinese military, known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), said the exercise involved all branches of the military and was designed to attack Taiwan from land, sea and air.
Senior Captain Li Xi, a spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, said the exercise “fully tested the military’s integrated joint operations capabilities.”
Taiwan’s airports and ports continued to function normally.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense earlier issued a statement condemning China's move and saying its priority was to avoid a direct conflict that could further escalate the conflict. The remote island is said to be on high alert.
China’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged simulating military attacks and port blockades and said Taiwan’s independence was “incompatible” with peace in the region.
Later, a post on the China Coast Guard’s Weibo account pointed out that the patrol route was shaped like a heart.
China Coast Guard
China has conducted several large-scale military exercises off the coast of Taiwan since 2022, and fighter jets regularly enter Taiwan’s airspace.
The latest exercise, dubbed “Joint Sword 2024-B” by the Chinese government, has been widely anticipated since May, when an exercise of the same name was officially designated as Part A.
The exercise, China’s largest ever, was held to coincide with the inauguration of President Lai, who Beijing has long regarded as a “troublemaker” who advocates for Taiwan’s independence.
His recent comments, made on Taiwan’s National Day, were accused by China of escalating tensions with “sinister intentions”.
But while these drills were widely anticipated, looking at the deployments, how close Chinese ships and aircraft are to Taiwan, and the fiery rhetoric, this is a very aggressive move.
In other contexts, this would be seen as a dramatic escalation, but against the backdrop of tensions that were already very high.
The United States responded by saying there was no legitimate reason for the drill following Lai’s “routine” speech and that China should avoid further actions that could threaten regional peace and stability. .
China’s recent history of military threats against Taiwan dates back to 1996, after Taiwan held its first direct presidential election. China has declared several areas around Taiwan off-limits and fired short-range ballistic missiles into those areas off its northern and southern coasts.
US President Bill Clinton quietly moved US naval forces into the Taiwan Strait to show Beijing that the US would prevent attacks on the island.
Tensions significantly eased between 2008 and 2016, until Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Tsai Ing-wen was elected president. China views the Democratic Progressive Party as a hard-line pro-independence group and responded by cutting off all direct contact with the Taipei government.
That situation has continued ever since.
In August 2022, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei. This is the first time a sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives has visited Taipei since 1997. Pelosi’s visit and her open support for Taiwan were seen as a huge provocation by Beijing, which moved it closer to formal recognition of the island. The government here is made by very senior American politicians.
Enraged by this, they conducted a two-day military exercise in which they flew ballistic missiles over the island and into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in history.
