China has launched a new round of military drills around Taiwan, a move it said was a warning to “independence” forces and which follows Taipei’s largest-ever weapons procurement deal with the US.
The Chinese military drills involve army, navy, air and rocket forces operating in the Taiwan Strait and around the island and will include live-fire drills on Tuesday, according to a statement issued by the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command.
The “Justice Mission 2025” exercises, China’s second round of big drills around Taiwan this year, would test PLA readiness for maritime and air combat and include blockades of ports and strategic areas, establishing battlefield control and deterring external forces, the statement said.
“This serves as a serious warning to Taiwan independence separatist forces and external interference forces,” said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the command. “It is a necessary action to defend national sovereignty and safeguard national unity.”
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Taiwan’s defence ministry said that by mid-afternoon on Monday it had detected sorties by 89 Chinese military aircraft and drones, 14 military vessels and 14 coastguard vessels, and that the manoeuvres had entered Taiwan’s air response area. The ministry added that the PLA’s designated areas for the drills overlapped with international air and shipping routes. China’s military has become increasingly assertive around Taiwan in recent years. Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened to take control by force if Taipei resists its pressure indefinitely. Earlier this month, the US approved an $11.1bn arms sale to Taiwan, the largest package of its kind, as Taipei seeks to strengthen its defence capabilities against Chinese threats. In a mostly symbolic response to the arms sale, Beijing in recent days announced sanctions against 20 US military-related companies and their staff.
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China’s foreign ministry on Monday published an article on its official WeChat account titled: “The US must fully recognise the grave consequences of arms sales to Taiwan”. The ministry said: “The balance of power across the Strait has fundamentally shifted. No matter how the US attempts to turn Taiwan into a so-called porcupine, it will not be able to stop China’s eventual and complete reunification.” Taiwan’s presidential office spokesperson on Monday called on China to immediately stop “irresponsible and provocative actions”. In November, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te pledged to spend about $40bn on weapons over the next eight years — Taiwan’s largest special defence budget in more than three decades — as his administration aims to deter Beijing and signal to President Donald Trump Taipei’s clear determination to pay for its own defences. Heightened tensions over Taiwan threaten to complicate a fragile thaw in US-China relations, after Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed a truce in the trade war between the world’s largest economies in late October. The US state department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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He added that Beijing also probably saw an opportunity to help exacerbate domestic political turmoil in Taiwan. “The opposition parties have been accusing the Lai administration of heightening the risks of conflict with China because of his cross-strait policies and efforts to increase Taiwan’s defence budget,” Yang said. The drills also come amid a bitter diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo, after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.