Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday.
Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan.
Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said.
Photo: Greg Baker, AFP
Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and Lai among Taiwanese, they said.
China and its proxies are circulating false narratives alleging that Washington prevented Lai from laying over in the continental US in a snub to Taiwan and that US arms sales are an ineffectual protection racket, the official said.
They also spread the rumor that US president-elect Donald Trump would cut off military aid to Taiwan to punish Lai for being associated with US Representative Nancy Pelosi, they said.
The point of the Chinese disinformation campaign being waged in recent days was to sow division in Taiwan and undermine its relationship with the upcoming Trump administration, the official said.
From this perspective, Lai’s diplomatic trip in the Pacific was a pretext for Beijing to raise the temperature in the Taiwan Strait with a fresh round of exercises and activities, they said.
The Phillippines and South Korea were not spared from hostile acts by China, despite recognizing Beijing’s stance regarding Taiwan’s status, they said.
China would use any official contact by Taiwan with members of the international community as a pretext, the official said.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been conducting a flurry of activities in the waters surrounding the first island chain, including a patrol on Thursday last week in the Taiwan Strait and drills off Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), the official said.
China’s state-run social media lauded the Scarborough exercise, rationalizing it as upholding national sovereignty, they said.
Russia joined China the following day in launching a mixed formation of military aircraft that passed over the Tsushima Strait, to South Korea’s protest, the official said.
This air patrol involved five Chinese and six Russian military aircraft, which flew into South Korea’s air defense identification zone without giving Seoul prior notice, they added.
The military actions closely followed the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oborony Ukrayiny’s Nov. 27 visit to South Korea to request the latter provide arms for fending off the Russian invasion, they said.
Russian Minister of Defense Andrei Belousov on Friday last week visited North Korea to thank the latter’s provision of troops and ammunition, the official said.
On Saturday, Japan said that PLA bombers had entered the seas between Okinawa proper and Miyako in the Pacific before returning by way of the East China Sea, they said.
Meanwhile, three Russian Steregushchiy-class corvettes and a supply ship deviated from their normal patrol course to sail close to Taiwan proper’s 24-nautical mile (44.4km) line, adding to China’s constant harrying of the nation’s near seas, they said.
The Russian vessels joined a Chinese warship in the area before starting naval drills, they added.
On Tuesday, an alarmed Japan sortied a surveillance plane and warship after spotting a Russian Kilo-class submarine near its territorial waters, the official said.
China’s involvement in these activities is an act calculated to assert control over the first island chain and lay claim to it as a Chinese red line, they said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is likely flexing China’s military strength to redraw the map for Beijing’s sphere of influence and strategically deter the US ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the official said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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