China on Tuesday launched its latest round of war games around Taiwan, which Beijing yesterday said were a “stern warning” against separatism.
The Chinese military last night said it had concluded the two days of drills, codenamed “Strait Thunder-2025A.”
The People’s Republic of China has claimed Taiwan through its “one China” principle since the Chinese Civil War forced the defeated Republic of China government to flee to Taiwan in 1949, and has vowed to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s rule, by force if necessary.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Taiwan strongly rejects Beijing’s claims, saying it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, and that only its people can decide its future.
The latest exercises follow a long history of conflict between Taiwan and China.
Taiwan and China have nearly gone to war several times since 1949. The two sides last joined battle on a large scale in 1958, when Chinese forces bombed the Kinmen and Matsu islands for more than a month, alongside naval and air combat.
Ahead of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election in 1996, China carried out missile tests in waters close to the nation, hoping to prevent people voting for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), whom China suspected of harboring pro-independence views. Lee won convincingly.
In August 2022, furious at a visit to Taipei by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, China held several days of war games around Taiwan, including launches of ballistic missiles, some of which flew over Taipei, and simulated sea and air attacks in surrounding skies and waters.
In April 2023, China held three days of drills around Taiwan, saying they had tested integrated military capabilities under combat conditions, having practiced precision strikes and blockading the nation. The drills came after then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) returned to Taipei following a meeting in Los Angeles with then-US House speaker Kevin McCarthy.
In August 2023, China launched military drills around Taiwan as a “serious warning” to “separatists” in an angry, but widely expected, response to then-vice president William Lai’s (賴清德) visit to the US.
In May last year, shortly after Lai’s inauguration as president, China launched “punishment” drills dubbed “Joint Sword-2024A” around Taiwan in what it said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks.
In October last year, China held one day of war games called “Joint Sword-2024B” around Taiwan in response to a national day speech by Lai. Taiwan said China used a record number of military aircraft in the exercises.
In December last year, Taiwan reported a large rise in Chinese air force and navy activity around the nation and in waters in the region, although China never officially confirmed it was holding exercises.
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.
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