Hong Kong/Taipei CNN —
Taiwan calls recent Chinese military exercises around the self-governing island an “unwarranted provocation” after Beijing deployed warships and fighter jets as a “stern warning” against “separatist actions by the Taiwanese Independence Army.” accused of being.
China’s military’s Eastern Theater Command said on Monday that exercises involving joint operations between the army, navy, air force and rocket forces were also being conducted in the Taiwan Strait, the narrow body of water separating Taiwan from mainland China. Surround Taiwan.
Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, a democracy of 23 million people, have become more frequent in recent years and tend to coincide with events that anger Beijing.
In August 2022, China began a week of military exercises following a visit to the island by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
A similar exercise was held in May after Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-de, took office, but Beijing has denounced him as a “dangerous separatist.” The latest training exercise is codenamed “Joint Sword-2024B,” suggesting it is a sequel to the training exercise from five months ago.
Ahead of the training, the Eastern Theater Command released a propaganda video titled “Preparing for Battle” on its social media accounts.
The approximately one-minute video shows fighter jets, warships and amphibious assault ships moving in the air and sea, and mobile missile launchers moving into position. The accompanying text said the command was “always ready and ready for battle.”
In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense strongly condemned the drills as an “unwarranted provocation" by China and said it had sent its own military.
In a statement, Taiwan’s presidential office called on China to “cease military provocations that undermine regional peace and stability, and stop threatening Taiwan’s democracy and freedom.”
President Rai added that he had convened a National Security Council meeting to discuss responses to the exercise.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Strait, a strategic point in southern Taiwan that separates the island from the Philippines. The Eastern Theater Command later confirmed that its carrier squadron was conducting training in “ship-jet coordination, joint air traffic control, and sea and land attack” east of Taiwan, according to CCTV.
The drills came after President Lai gave a speech on Thursday’s National Day in which he said Taiwan was “not subordinate” to China and that Beijing “has no right to represent Taiwan.”
The speech followed earlier comments by Lai in which he said it was “absolutely impossible” for Communist China to become Taiwan’s homeland and that Taiwan was already a “sovereign and independent country.” .
Lai has long faced the wrath of Beijing for defending Taiwan’s sovereignty and rejecting the Chinese Communist Party’s claims to the island.
Although it has never ruled Taiwan, China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to “reunify” Taiwan with the autonomous democracy, by force if necessary. However, many people on the island consider themselves distinctly Taiwanese and do not want to be part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Successive Chinese leaders have vowed to one day rule Taiwan. But Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive leader in decades, has stepped up his rhetoric and aggression against the democratic island, increasing tensions across the strait and raising fears of a military conflict.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said Monday’s exercises began “with ships and aircraft approaching the island of Taiwan from various directions.”
According to a statement from the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Command, the training focused on “sea-air combat readiness patrols, blockading major ports and areas, attacking maritime and ground targets, and jointly seizing total superiority.”
The People’s Liberation Army did not say whether the training included live-fire exercises, and so far China has not fired any missiles. The previous exercise in 2022 included a missile launch.
A map released by the command shows drills being conducted in nine areas around Taiwan and remote islands near mainland China.
The China Coast Guard, which operates in areas around Taiwan and the remote islands of Matsu and Dongyin, located just off China’s southeast coast, also participated in the exercise.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense detected 25 Chinese aircraft between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time on Monday, 16 of them at the unofficial boundary of the Taiwan Strait, which Beijing does not recognize but largely respected until recent years. It crossed the median line, which is a point.
A total of seven Chinese warships and additional coast guard vessels were spotted near the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard announced on Monday that it had captured and detained a Chinese national on a raft near the Kinmen Islands. Since the incident coincided with a military exercise, it cannot be ruled out that it may be part of China’s “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan, and the government is increasing its vigilance.
Gray zone tactics refer to actions just below what might be considered an act of war.
The United States said it was “gravely concerned” about the military exercises, calling them a “military provocation response to an annual speech” and “unwarranted and posing a risk of escalation.”
“We urge China to act with restraint and avoid further actions that could undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the broader region,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. .
This story has been updated with additional information.