Chinese military surrounds Taiwan as ‘strong punishment’

Taichung, Taiwan: China has launched two days of military drills surrounding Taiwan as “punishment” for acts of independence after the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, took office on Monday.

The drills, which began on Thursday morning, are being carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Taiwan Strait. Forces encircled the main island, as well as the offshore islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin, Chinese state media reported.

The People’s Liberation Army of China released a map highlighting the areas of operation around Taiwan.Credit: People's Liberation Army

Li Xi, a spokesman for the PLA theatre command, was quoted by the Chinese news agency Xinhua as saying the “Joint Sward-2024A” exercises focused on “sea-air combat-readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control and joint precision strikes on new targets”.

The drills are the largest in more than a year, and were intended to “serve as a strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces,” Xinhua reported.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it China was engaging in “irrational provocation”. It indicated that country’s military was on alert and had deployed sea, air and ground forces.

“In the face of external challenges and threats, [the forces] will continue to defend democracy and have the confidence and ability to protect national security. Please rest assured,” a ministry statement said.

At Taichung Airport, in central Taiwan, on Thursday morning travellers queued for flights to Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu that are popular weekend getaways.

“It’s worrying and it makes me feel nervous. I’m not sure if this kind of activity is intended to serve as intimidation only, or if it represents an escalation that is leading towards a formal invasion at some point,” said Aubrey Shih, 28, who was travelling with her family to Matsu.

A Kinmen island resident returning home with his wife and young son, who wanted to be identified only by his last name Hung, said he was not bothered by the drills.

People wait for flights bound for outlying islands as the PLA hold military exercises in nearby waters. Credit: Daniel Ceng

“It’s all good. We’ve been so used to this idea of being encircled. We have close ties with Beijing so we don’t have that feeling of being intimidated,” he said.

Kinmen is closer to the Chinese mainland – just two kilometres away at the closest point – than Taiwan’s main island, and many Kinmen residents feel a stronger connection to Chinese culture than they do to Taiwanese identity.

Lai used his inauguration speech on Monday to call on China to stop its campaign of military intimidation against Taiwan, to share responsibility with Taipei for maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and “ensure the world is free from the fear of war”.

China swiftly denounced Lai’s speech, saying it “sent a dangerous signal of seeking independence”.

A Taiwanese Air Force fighter jet takes off from Hsinchu Air Base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Thursday.Credit: Bloomberg

Beijing disdains Lai, regarding him as a “dangerous separatist”, and frequently cites a statement he made in 2017 in which he described himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence”. Lai has repeatedly walked back the statement since then, and recommitted in his inauguration speech to maintaining the status quo – a policy that centres on neither championing formal independence nor submitting to China’s unification goal.

China’s military drills add to the complications for the new government in Taipei. Opposition politicians are pushing through changes aimed at reining in its powers, a move that brought thousands of people onto the streets on Tuesday night. The demonstrations are likely to resume on Friday when the legislature takes consider the bill.

The PLA issued a map of the drills, marking five areas around Taiwan island and circling the four smaller islands off China’s southern province of Fujian. Separately, China’s coast guard announced exercises in the waters near Wuqiu and Dongyin islands.

Protesters rally against proposed changes to executive powers outside Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan on Tuesday night.Credit: Bloomberg

China didn’t send out navigational alerts for ships and aeroplanes as it did during drills in August 2022, when Beijing effectively blocked off six areas in the sea and fired missiles in response a visit by Nancy Pelosi, then the US House Speaker.

While it wasn’t immediately clear how many ships and planes were involved, the PLA has not held exercises in so many locations around Taiwan since April 2023.

With Bloomberg

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.