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.
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS