China has once again launched military drills around Taiwan, this time apparently in reaction to a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday last week. While smaller than those held in August last year following then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the latest drills should still serve as a warning to Taiwan and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
The exercises, which began on Saturday, combine “combat readiness patrol” maneuvers, “united sword” drills around Taiwan and live-fire exercises off China’s Fujian Province.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the drills “simulated targeted strikes on Taiwan and encirclement of the island.”
China for the first time deployed its Shangdong aircraft carrier, which crossed the Bashi Channel off Taiwan’s south coast and entered waters 230km south of the Japanese island of Miyako. Tokyo said it observed 80 take-offs and landings from the carrier during the drill. The PLA also was reported to conduct simulated attacks on “foreign military targets” off Taiwan’s southwest coast.
Although China sent an unprecedented 91 military aircraft and 12 ships in a single day to the area around Taiwan, the overall drills have mostly been confined to areas to the north, south and east of the nation. That is much less ambitious than the exercises held in August, when the PLA targeted six exclusion zones around Taiwan, choking off maritime trade in the region, and fired ballistic missiles over the nation, some of which landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Speculation abounds as to the reasons behind China’s “restraint” this time around, with pundits saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) no longer needs jingoistic shows of force, as he has consolidated his grip on power, while others have suggested that Beijing wants to avoid an international backlash similar to the one that followed its August drills.
To cover up his expansionist agenda, Xi seeks to portray himself as a global peacemaker and create the illusion that China is nothing like Russia through diplomatic overtures to the West.
The latest drills have proven China’s appeal for normal cross-strait exchanges to be a lie. They are also a slap in the face of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who recently visited China to call for peaceful communications based on the so-called “1992 consensus” and Beijing’s “one China” principle.
China considers any country that respects Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy “an external force” hindering its plans to annex the nation. It has branded US lawmakers who have met with Tsai as provocateurs, an accusation that amounts to attacking the US’ sovereignty.
China’s flexing of its military muscles could be meant to intimidate neighboring countries as well, as Japan and the Philippines have raised their defense budgets and said they are open to more international military cooperation in their efforts to counter Chinese expansionism. It was also likely aimed at US-Philippine exercises in the South China Sea, where China has militarized islands.
Chinese exercises should stir Taiwan into taking action to boost its coastal defenses and military preparedness. The Ministry of National Defense has announced plans to expand readiness drills along designated “ red beaches” to thwart a potential Chinese amphibious landing, but more action is needed.
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has urged Washington to speed up arms deliveries to Taiwan, saying that China’s saber-rattling efforts against Taiwan should only inspire Washington to firm up its commitment to Taiwan.
The international community should remain alert for Chinese aggression across military, economic and political spheres, and work together to deter it.
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