China has been staging large-scale joint war games featuring mock beach landings, helicopter assaults and tank battles along its east coast facing Taiwan, just days before the inauguration of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that the air, land and sea drills are aimed at “testing and upgrading the ability to respond to security threats and complete military missions.”
The drills are “not aimed at any specific target and relevant persons shouldn’t read too much into it,” the ministry said.
The statement, issued in a question-and-answer format, did not mention Taiwan.
The military drills are a sign of the sort of disruptions and threats that would descend upon the cross-strait relationship if Tsai defies Beijing’s demands over the “one China principle,” Xiamen University Taiwan Research Institute deputy director Li Fei (李非) said.
“The exercises are a message to the Taiwan independence forces and can be regarded as a warning that any indications of a movement toward independence will meet with repression,” Li said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has endorsed the so-called “1992 consensus” — which refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means — and signed a series of agreements with China during its eight years in power.
Tsai has said she wants such contacts to continue uninterrupted, but has declined to voice her support for the consensus.
While military action is considered extremely risky, Beijing could choose to retaliate against Tsai by further limiting the nation’s participation in international organizations, luring away its remaining diplomatic allies, and curtailing trade and tourist exchanges.
China last staged military drills and missile launches in 1995 and 1996 in a bid to intimidate Taiwanese voters ahead of the first direct presidential elections. The effort was seen as an abject failure that further alienated Taiwanese.
Chinese media said the latest drills involved mock landing operations, and the use of attack helicopters and tanks. The largest drills were carried out by the People’s Liberation Army’s 31st Group Army in Xiamen, the China Daily said.
The 31st Group Army also held live-firing exercises in January, days after Tsai’s election.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from