Beijing is attempting to internalize the Taiwan Strait and wage “lawfare” and influence campaigns to ramp up its “gray zone” efforts against Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report.
The ministry’s latest report to the Legislative Yuan presented an analysis of Chinese military activities around Taiwan in the past few years, showing that Beijing’s coercion efforts could be categorized into “combat readiness patrols,” “gray zone harassment,” “large-scale military drills against Taiwan” and “planned joint training exercises that involve different branches of the military.”
About three to four times per month, the Chinese military sends warships and warplanes across the Taiwan Strait median line as part of combat-readiness patrols, along with other provocative military actions, to intensify threats against Taiwan, it said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
On May 23 and 24, the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) staged a series of large-scale military drills dubbed “Joint Sword-2024A” around Taiwan and exploited the drills to dispatch China Coast Guard vessels to carry out patrols and law enforcement operations in the waters east of Taiwan for the first time, the report said.
The drills were part of China’s efforts to internalize Taiwan by expanding its jurisdiction across the Taiwan Strait, it said.
Beijing could use China Coast Guard Regulation No. 3 — which allows its coast guard to board and hold vessels in disputed waters, and detain nationals for up to 60 days — to further justify its use of force to protect maritime rights, it said.
“Gray zone” harassment could be ramped up as well combined with legal and cognitive warfare, the report added.
All these coercion patterns indicate that Beijing would continue to combine “formal” and “informal” tactics — “gray zone” harassment, joint training exercises involving the navy and air force, and military drills against Taiwan — to test its military’s capability to attack Taiwan and defend against a response, it said.
The ministry said in the report that the armed forces would continue intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities to monitor and collect information on the PLA and cross-strait situation, dedicated to safeguarding Taiwan’s territorial waters and sovereignty that extend to the strait’s median line.
Chinese aircraft and vessels crossing the median line of the Strait into Taiwan’s air or sea defense identification zones would be intercepted by the air force, as well as accompanied and monitored by the navy or patrol vessels, it said.
The military would also broadcast warning messages to deter crossings, with ground-based air defense missiles and shore-based anti-ship missiles ready to fire, it added.
The ministry plans to acquire more equipment and systems to counter incursions through contract manufacturers, or commercial or military purchases to boost overall defense capacity, it said.
To deal with Beijing’s cognitive warfare efforts through “gray zone” maneuvers, the military would seek to counter false news reports and misinformation, enhance the public’s media literacy and engage in international strategic communications, the ministry said.
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