Just as China’s abrupt “zero COVID-19” policy U-turn presents a risk to international public health, the military drills it has launched around Taiwan show that it continues to pose a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region.
After deploying 78 aircraft and ships in the airspace and waters around Taiwan at the end of last month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command launched joint combat strike drills on Sunday. Within 24 hours, the PLA had sent 57 warplanes and four ships toward Taiwan, with 28 of the aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
The PLA issued a statement saying the drills were “aimed at testing the PLA’s combat capability in the face of a series of provocations from external and Taiwan independence forces.”
The drills have been interpreted as a response to the passage of the US’ Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which stipulates military aid to Taiwan and declares Taipei a non-NATO partner. They have also been deemed a warning to new US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy not to visit Taiwan, after he vowed to do so.
There is also speculation that the drills were launched in protest of a German parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. Beijing previously lodged a complaint after the German government’s policy guidelines mentioned Taiwan for the first time and said Berlin opposes altering the cross-strait “status quo” through non-peaceful means.
China’s military incursions are simply pretexts to prepare for its long-planned invasion of Taiwan and distract attention from domestic issues, including a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) last month said that Beijing would keep coming up with new excuses to hold drills as it prepares for an attack on Taiwan, especially after the Chinese Communist Party in October granted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a third term in office.
On Monday, while the latest Chinese drills were under way, official delegations from Germany, Lithuania, Paraguay and Tuvalu were in Taipei to show their support for Taiwan’s democracy and prosperity.
Free Democratic Party (FDP) deputy chair Johannes Vogel, the joint leader of the German delegation, said that “Germany would like to send China a message that military intimidation is not acceptable” and that the visit aims to “demonstrate Germany’s massive support for Taiwan.”
Taiwan last year saw a marked increase in the number of visits by foreign delegations, especially after China launched a military drill surrounding Taiwan in August. More than 50 countries have condemned China’s military coercion, and reiterated support for Taiwan’s democracy and maintaining the “status quo.”
The US Congress has passed more than 80 pro-Taiwan resolutions — a record — and European countries and the EU Parliament have proposed 30 resolutions to enhance relations with Taiwan.
Former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Taiwan last week, calling on European countries to help Taipei deter a possible Chinese attack by conducting joint military exercises.
The US approved eight arms sales packages to Taiwan and Japan in its latest national defense paper, highlighting Taipei as an extremely important geopolitical partner.
Japan is also planning to reorganize the deployment of its defense forces, and build new bomb shelters and an infantry base in Okinawa as it seeks to take a more offensive stance to ensure stability in the Taiwan Strait.
China’s drills that seek to intimate Taiwan and its partners have backfired, exposing Xi’s lie of “peaceful unification across the Strait” and inspiring greater urgency among democratic allies.
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