China on Tuesday, April Fool’s Day, began two-day joint-force military exercises around Taiwan, painting them as a “severe warning and forceful containment against Taiwan independence.” However, the exercises have again proven the country increasingly showcasing its military muscles to be a true “troublemaker.”
Without prior notice, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command launched large-scale exercises codenamed “Strait Thunder-2025A,” deploying aircraft, drones and naval vessels including the Shandong aircraft carrier, as well as armed militia in the air and waters around Taiwan. The PLA claimed the military exercises were practice for precision strikes and a blockade to “close in on Taiwan from all directions.”
Not surprisingly, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office again stated that the maneuvers were directed at Taiwan’s “separatist” activities, this time referring to President William Lai (賴清德) recently designating China as a “foreign hostile force,” and announcing 17 measures to counter Chinese espionage and influence operations.
Along with its military buildup, China has in recent years significantly increased the frequency of intrusions across the median line of the Taiwan Strait and launched arbitrary military exercises aimed at Taiwan. Since the week-long military exercises after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022, China has conducted at least six large-scale exercises around Taiwan.
Most of those maneuvers were conducted under the pretext of deterring “Taiwan independence forces,” and are used to press the Chinese Communist Party’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, which it has never ruled. They are part of China’s strategy to establish a new normal to alter the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait and create the illusion that Taiwan is part of China.
Those moves are also used to showcase China’s military muscle domestically and internationally. They serve as propaganda to solidify internal support amid China’s domestic troubles, and act as intimidation against international powers blocking China’s expansionism, as evidenced by drills near Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and in the South China Sea.
The “Strait Thunder-2025A” drill began weeks after Lai’s “17 measures” announcement, but right after the end of US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s first official visit to Asia, where he met with his counterparts in Japan and the Philippines, and pledged that “America is committed to sustaining robust, ready and credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait.”
Such commitment is demonstrated in a new agreement between Japan and the US on coproduction of air-to-air missiles and an announcement of the deployment of more missile systems and F-16 jets to the Philippines to counter regional security risks.
The Washington Post simultaneously reported on a leaked internal Pentagon memo, which directs the US military to prioritize deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, while withdrawing from other regions including the Middle East and Europe. The memo also iterated China is “the Department’s [of Defense] sole pacing threat.”
The exercises carry a strategic message of intimidation toward the US and its Asian allies for their anti-China efforts, as well as a diplomatic warning to the US ahead of a reported upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
China’s blatant military provocations have repeatedly highlighted the country to be the biggest “troublemaker” undermining regional peace and the international order. Going against China’s goals, such coercive moves have not only turned Taiwanese sentiment further against China, but also raise levels of anti-China discontent internationally and stimulate more regional countermeasures.
An April Fool’s Day exercise might end up to have been a most unwise move by China.
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