China’s military drills around Taiwan this week were aimed at testing the US’ response and strategic bottom line ahead of a potential Washington-Beijing summit, rather than the stated goal of deterring “Taiwanese independence” forces, academics said.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Tuesday announced it had launched a new round of exercises around Taiwan using army, navy, air and rocket forces to “close in” on the nation from “multiple directions.”
Last night the PLA announced it had concluded the two days of drills.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) said the drills were intended as “a stern warning” to “Taiwanese independence” separatist forces, and would serve as “a resolute punishment” for what it called the “reckless provocations to seek independence” by the administration of President William Lai (賴清德).
Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the exercises, coming just after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited Japan, were aimed at the US.
During his first trip to Japan after taking office, Hegseth met with Japanese Minister of National Defense Gen Nakatani in Tokyo, where they discussed security issues across the Strait.
“The ministers took note of activities by the PLA including the military situation around Taiwan, and emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” an English-language news release issued by the Japanese Ministry of Defense said.
Despite its rhetoric of “opposing Taiwanese independence” as the reason for launching the drills, China’s decision to start them right after Hegseth’s departure was about testing the US’ bottom line and response regarding security issues across the Strait, Lin said.
Beijing also wanted to understand US President Donald Trump’s stance on the issue, with the aim of gauging the US strategic position ahead of a potential summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), he said.
Echoing Lin, Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at the Taiwan military-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the drills were aimed at expressing political dissatisfaction toward Washington.
That dissatisfaction stemmed from a Washington Post report published on Saturday last week that said an internal guidance memo signed by Hegseth had reoriented the US military to focus on deterring a potential seizure of Taiwan by China, Su said.
While the PLA’s surprise drills were primarily intended as a message to the US, they might also serve as internal propaganda in China, he said.
The exercises could also be seen as a response to Lai’s speech on March 13, in which he designated China a “foreign adversary” and announced 17 strategies to counter Beijing’s coercion of Taiwan, he said.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a research fellow at the Association of Strategic Foresight, said the Lai administration was directly named in statements and in videos on the drills by the TAO and the PLA, adding that such direct references showed that the drills could be seen as a response to Lai.
The criticism and the drills could be interpreted as signs that Beijing might be using Lai’s remarks as a pretext to raise tensions across the Strait ahead of a potential Xi-Trump summit, in a bid to gain leverage or create opportunities for negotiation with the Trump administration, Chieh said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS