[🇨🇳] China-Taiwan Feud

[Saif]

Source : https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/news/37-chinese-aircraft-skirt-taiwan-way-drill-3653961

37 Chinese aircraft skirt Taiwan on way to drill

Taiwan's defence ministry said 37 Chinese aircraft were detected around the self-ruled island yesterday as they headed to exercises with an aircraft carrier in the western Pacific.

China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and maintains a near-daily presence of fighter jets, drones and warships around the island, which is 180 kilometres (110 miles) from the southern Chinese coast.

Taiwan is also a crucial part of a chain of islands that military strategists say serve as a gateway from the South China Sea -- which China claims in nearly its entirety -- to the Pacific Ocean.

At around 9:30 am (0130 GMT) yesterday, Taipei said that "since 0520 today, the Ministry of National Defence detected a total of 37 Chinese aircraft", including fighter jets, bombers and drones.

Thirty-six of the aircraft crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait -- which bisects the narrow waterway separating the island from China.

"(The aircraft) headed to the Western Pacific via our southern and southeastern airspace to cooperate with the aircraft carrier the Shandong in conducting 'joint sea and air training'," the defence ministry said in a statement.

Defence Minister Wellington Koo told reporters the Shandong "did not pass through the Bashi Channel", the area off Taiwan's southern tip where Chinese ships typically transit en route to the Pacific Ocean.

Instead, it "went further south through the Balingtang Channel towards the Western Pacific," he said, referring to a waterway just north of the Philippines' Babuyan Island -- about 250 kilometres south of Bashi.​

 

[Saif]

China’s ‘growing authoritarianism’ won’t stop with Taiwan: Lai

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te warned on Wednesday that China’s ‘growing authoritarianism will not stop with’ the island and urged democratic countries to unite to curb its expansion...

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China’s ‘growing authoritarianism’ won’t stop with Taiwan: Lai
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 21 August, 2024, 22:31

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te. | AFP file photo

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te warned on Wednesday that China’s ‘growing authoritarianism will not stop with’ the island and urged democratic countries to unite to curb its expansion.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and a senior Chinese Communist Party official said Tuesday that Beijing was confident of ‘complete reunification’ with the island.

Speaking at the annual Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific security in Taipei, Lai cautioned that Taiwan was not ‘the only target’ of Beijing.

‘We are all fully aware that China’s growing authoritarianism will not stop with Taiwan, nor is Taiwan the only target of China’s economic pressures,’ he told politicians and scholars from 11 countries attending the forum.

‘China intends to change the rules-based international order. That is why democratic countries must come together and take concrete action. Only by working together can we inhibit the expansion of authoritarianism.’

Lai, who was sworn in on May 20, has been labelled a ‘dangerous separatist’ by China for his staunch defence of Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Beijing has ramped up military and political pressure on Taiwan in recent years, and launched wargames days after Lai’s inauguration, encircling the island with fighter jets and naval vessels.

Taiwan’s military has been reporting near-daily sightings of Chinese warships around its waters, as well as sorties by fighter jets and drones around the island.

But Lai said China’s ‘military expansionism’ was taking place elsewhere, pointing to Beijing’s joint exercises with Russia in the South China Sea, Western Pacific and the Sea of Japan.

‘Such actions are intended to intimidate China’s neighbours and undermine regional peace and stability,’ he said.

‘Taiwan will not be intimidated. We will take responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.’

Lai has repeatedly made overtures for dialogue with Beijing but talks have effectively dried up since the 2016 election of his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, who has long said Taiwan is not part of China.

‘Taiwan will neither yield nor provoke. On the condition of parity and dignity, we are willing to conduct exchanges and cooperate with China,’ Lai reiterated Wednesday.

China’s foreign ministry hit back on Wednesday afternoon, with spokeswoman Mao Ning insisting Taiwan was ‘an inalienable part of China’s territory’ and accusing Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party of misleading the public.

‘No matter what they say or do, they cannot change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to a single China, nor can they stop the historical trend of China’s eventual reunification,’ she told a regular press conference.​

 

[Saif]

China spent $15.3b on Pacific exercises in 2023, internal Taiwan estimates show

The internal research by Taiwan's armed forces, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China's defence spending.

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China spent $15.3b on Pacific exercises in 2023, internal Taiwan estimates show
ReutersTaipei
Published: 27 Aug 2024, 09: 54

A fishing boat sails past a Chinese warship during a military drill off the Chinese coast near Fuzhou, Fujian Province, across from the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands, China, 11 April 2023. Reuters

China spent about $15 billion, or 7 per cent of its defence budget, on exercises in the Western Pacific in 2023, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing's investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbours.

The internal research by Taiwan's armed forces, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China's defence spending as Beijing has ramped up its military presence amid rising tensions in the region.

China claims Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratically governed island under its control despite Taiwan's strong objections. It is also locked in disputes with several countries over sovereignty of large parts of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

"This reveals the logic of allocation of their resources," said a senior Taiwan official briefed on the research. "They are spending a huge amount of resources trying to gain control of the west of the First Island Chain." The official, and two other people briefed on the research, declined to be identified for this story because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The First Island Chain is a collection of archipelagos running roughly from Indonesia in an arc northeast to Japan, encompassing the South China Sea and East China Sea.

In a statement to Reuters, Taiwan's defence ministry declined to comment on the figures.

"But the Chinese Communist Party's enormous military investment in recent years indeed has a negative impact to the peace and stability in the region, which is not conducive to global prosperity and development," it added.

China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China's second-highest-ranking military official, said in April the sea should not be an arena where countries can flex their "gunboat muscles".

Carrying out "maritime containment, encirclement and island blockades will only plunge the world into a vortex of division and turbulence," he added, in an apparent reference to the U.S. and its allies.

Taiwan's defence ministry compiled the reports in May based on Taiwanese surveillance and intelligence on Chinese military activity in the Bohai Sea off northeast China, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean.

The reports tallied China's naval and air missions there in 2023, then estimated how much fuel and other consumables would cost for each hour of activity. The total was 110 billion yuan ($15.3 billion), including maintenance, repairs and salaries, the reports and the officials briefed on the research said.

The research was designed to help Taiwanese decision makers understand how China allocates military resources across regions, as well as to gauge what Taipei perceives as a "gap" between Beijing's intentions and its capabilities, three officials briefed on the reports said.

Comparing the cost of the exercises to the state of China's economy, they said, helps Taipei assess the risks for both Taiwan and China.

The 110 billion yuan figure amounts to about 85 per cent of Taiwan's 2023 defence budget, Reuters calculations show.

It is about 7 per cent of China's reported 2023 military spending of 1.55 trillion yuan, although diplomats and experts say that number is often opaque or not fully inclusive. China in March announced a 7.2 per cent rise in defence spending for this year to 1.67 trillion yuan.

"It's like a black hole," said retired Taiwanese Navy Lieutenant Commander Lu Li-shih, noting that individual spending programmes were not broken out in China's defence budget. "You can gauge the trend, but you can't tell what the detailed items are."

1.7 million hours at sea

Both Washington and Beijing have significantly increased the volume of military exercises across Asia amid roiling tensions in recent years, though China's drills still lag in scale and complexity, a study has found.

China's state-backed Global Times newspaper said last year sending carrier groups into the waters of the Western Pacific was not only about flexing muscles around Taiwan, and that China's navy needed to get used to operating far out at sea.

"China's carrier battle group is facing not only the Taiwan authorities, but also the interference of external forces," military expert Song Zhongping told the newspaper.

Four experts said the reports' methodology was feasible and could provide valuable information, although they cautioned that it necessarily included some guesswork.

They also said direct comparisons on military exercise spending were difficult; no data was available, for instance, on how much the United States spent on such activities in 2023. But the U.S. Department of Defense has proposed spending $9.9 billion next year on the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, created to counter China's military build-up.

Reuters could not independently confirm the accuracy of the Taiwanese estimate.

China has stepped up military incursions and war games near Taiwan.

In 2023, Chinese aircraft, including J-10 fighter jets, H-6 bombers, and drones, made more than 9,200 flights in the region, amounting to about 29,000 hours in the air, the report shows.

The Chinese navy made more than 70,000 sailings, including aircraft carriers and destroyers, amounting to a total time at sea of more than 1.7 million hours.

Roughly 40 per cent of the Chinese naval journeys were made in the highly contested South China Sea, about 20 per cent were in the East China Sea bordering Japan and South Korea, and nearly 15 per cent were in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, the report shows.

Taiwan has reported about 1,700 Chinese military planes have flown in its air defence identification zone so far this year, slightly more than the total for all of 2023, according to data compiled by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

China also launched "punishment" drills around Taiwan in May 2024, sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks shortly after Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who Beijing considers a separatist, took office.

During the two-day "Joint Sword – 2024A" war games that month, Chinese air and naval forces were estimated to have spent about $13.17 million on fuel and consumables, according to another internal Taiwan defence report reviewed by Reuters.

The estimated spending for that exercise did not include personnel and maintenance, which are usually about three times the cost of fuel and consumables, the three officials briefed on the research said.

Chinese warplanes made more than 100 flights and spent some 300 hours in the air during those exercises, the report shows, while Chinese warships and coast guard boats made about 90 trips.

Chieh Chung, a researcher at a Taipei-based think tank, the Association of Strategic Foresight, said the activity showed the Chinese military was building combat readiness.

"The Communist military is ramping up their training for a Taiwan invasion," he said. "More aircraft and pilots are now capable of conducting such missions."​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan slams China ‘intervention’ after Pacific bloc alters statement

The Taiwanese foreign ministry on Saturday accused China of an ‘arbitrary intervention’ after a joint declaration by Pacific leaders was altered to remove mentions of Taiwan.

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Taiwan slams China ‘intervention’ after Pacific bloc alters statement
Agence France-Presse . Nuku’alofa 31 August, 2024, 23:14

The Taiwanese foreign ministry on Saturday accused China of an ‘arbitrary intervention’ after a joint declaration by Pacific leaders was altered to remove mentions of Taiwan.

‘Taiwan issued the strongest condemnation on China’s arbitrary intervention and unreasonable actions that undermine regional peace and stability,’ the foreign ministry told AFP in a statement.

Self-ruled Taiwan—which Beijing claims as its own territory—also called on ‘all like-minded countries to closely monitor China’s actions’ to safeguard ‘the harmony and stable development of Pacific island countries’.

The rebuff came after a statement by Pacific leaders was reissued with mentions of Taiwan removed after China had slammed an earlier version as a ‘mistake’ that ‘must be corrected’.

After five days of talks in Tonga, a ‘cleared’ communique was released Friday that reaffirmed a 30-year-old agreement allowing Taiwan to take part in the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

But the wording immediately raised the ire of Chinese diplomats, who piled pressure on Pacific leaders to amend the document.

The forum reissued the communique without explanation Saturday morning, conspicuously deleting the paragraph concerning the regional bloc’s ‘relations with Taiwan’.

Neither PIF nor Chinese officials replied to requests for comment on Saturday.

China’s special envoy to the Pacific islands, Qian Bo, had told reporters on Friday that the mention of Taiwan was ‘a surprising mistake made by someone’, before insisting ‘it must be corrected’.

Qian earlier said he had contacted the bloc’s secretariat in the hope of clarifying the situation.

The original paragraph—titled ‘Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China’—said leaders had ‘reaffirmed’ the 1992 decision that paved the way for Taiwan’s participation in the forum.

Beijing has aggressively sought to exclude Taiwan, a self-governing island of more than 23 million people, from international bodies and rejects its autonomy.

The South Pacific was once seen as a bastion of support for Taiwan’s claim to statehood, but China has methodically whittled this down.

In the past five years, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Nauru have all been persuaded to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Beijing insists its diplomatic allies withdraw recognition of the self-ruled island.

Palau, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei but face constant pressure to change.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it had contacted its three Pacific allies ‘to actively communicate with the PIF Secretariat’ in a bid to retain the clause.

‘But the final decision by member states was to use the spirit of diversity and inclusion of the ‘Pacific Way’ as a compromise of the opinions of all parties, and publish a joint communique with consensus,’ a Taiwanese spokesperson added.

‘This communique did not undermine our country’s status in the Pacific Islands Forum or exclude our rights to participate in the PIF in the future.

‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked our allies and like-minded countries for their support for our continued participation in PIF.’

Solomon Islands, China’s main partner in the South Pacific, has lobbied for Taiwan to be stripped of its ‘development partner’ status with the PIF.

US territories Guam and American Samoa were elevated to associate members of the forum, against the wishes of Solomon Islands.

New Zealand’s foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that there had not been a consensus on the paragraph about Taiwan.

‘There are a range of views among the 18 Pacific Islands Forum members and part of the ‘Pacific Way’ is respect for different views and the importance of consensus,’ a spokesperson said in a statement.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan detects 29 Chinese fighter jets around island

Taiwan’s defence ministry said yesterday that 29 Chinese fighter jets and drones were detected around the democratic island, following a 24-hour period that saw a surge in military movement by Beijing’s forces.

www.thedailystar.net

Taiwan detects 29 Chinese fighter jets around island

Taiwan's defence ministry said yesterday that 29 Chinese fighter jets and drones were detected around the democratic island, following a 24-hour period that saw a surge in military movement by Beijing's forces.

China, which claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, sends warplanes, drones and naval vessels around the island nearly every day.

The latest ramp-up in military movement came after Japanese media reported that a Japanese warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait for the first time to assert its freedom of navigation.

Yesterday, Taiwan's defence ministry said 43 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels were detected in a 24-hour period ending at 6:00 am (2200 GMT Wednesday). It also released an illustration that showed the aircraft surrounding the island except for the northeastern coast.

By afternoon, the ministry reported an additional 29 aircraft -- including fighter jets and drones -- had been detected since 8:00 am.

"Out of those, 21 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait," it said.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan president vows to resist annexation of island

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te vowed Thursday to ‘resist annexation’, as China exerts growing military and political pressure on the self-ruled island it claims as part of its territory.

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Taiwan president vows to resist annexation of island
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 10 October, 2024, 22:30

Lai Ching-te

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te vowed Thursday to ‘resist annexation’, as China exerts growing military and political pressure on the self-ruled island it claims as part of its territory.

China has not ruled out using force to bring the democratic island under its control, which Lai and his government oppose.

‘I will also uphold the commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty,’ Lai said under grey skies during Taiwan’s National Day celebrations.

Beijing and Taipei were ‘not subordinate to each other’ and China had ‘no right to represent Taiwan’, Lai said.

Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taiwan to accept its territorial claims and relations have remained tense under Lai, who took office in May.

Lai has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan’s sovereignty, angering Beijing, which calls him a ‘separatist’.

China warned Thursday evening after the speech that Lai’s ‘provocations’ would result in ‘disaster’ for the people of Taiwan.

‘(Lai’s) provocations in seeking ‘independence’ are the root cause of trouble for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and will bring disaster to the people of Taiwan,’ said Chen Binhua, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, according to a social media post by the bureau.

Earlier in the day, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning condemned Lai’s speech, saying it ‘exposed his sinister intention to escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait for political self-interest’.

A senior US administration official said Wednesday that Beijing may use the National Day celebrations ‘as a pretext’ for military exercises.

Speaking in front of an audience that included Tsai and pro-independence former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian, Lai said: ‘Our determination to defend our national sovereignty remains unchanged.’

‘Our efforts to maintain the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait remain unchanged,’ Lai said in front of the Presidential Office.

Foreign guests included three members of the US Congress, as well as representatives from some of the 12 states that still have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, including Tuvalu prime minister Feleti Teo.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but has remained Taiwan’s most important partner and its biggest arms supplier.

Washington opposes Taiwan independence and any attempt by China to forcibly take the island.

Thursday’s celebrations mark the 113th anniversary of the toppling of China’s Qing dynasty and the subsequent founding of the Republic of China.

The current dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to a civil war between the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong’s communist fighters.

The nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949 after they were defeated by the communists.

The Republic of China remains Taiwan’s official name.

While Taiwan has its own government, military and currency, it has never declared formal independence from mainland China.

Beijing has sought to erase Taipei from the international stage, blocking it from global forums and poaching its diplomatic allies.

Taiwan was on alert for Chinese military drills near the island on National Day after observing ‘some maritime deployments’, a senior security official said on Wednesday.

China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of large-scale war games in the past two years, deploying aircraft and ships to encircle the island.

‘Even though we have not seen significant military activity or exercises following previous 10/10 speeches, we are prepared that Beijing may choose to use this as a pretext this year,’ the senior US administration official told reporters.

‘We see no justification for a routine annual celebration to be used in this manner. Coercive actions like this against Taiwan and in the cross-Strait context, in our view, undermine cross-Strait stability.’

Taiwan’s defence ministry said Thursday that 27 Chinese military aircraft and nine navy vessels were detected around the island in the 24 hours to 6:00am.

Susan Hung, 60, said she worried that China’s military actions around Taiwan could ‘escalate beyond control’.

‘We have these fears in mind, so we hope for peace,’ Hung said, as she watched the celebrations.

In his speech, Lai expressed hope for ‘healthy and orderly dialogue and exchanges’ with China, and urged Beijing to use its influence to help end conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Beijing severed high-level communications with Taipei in 2016 when Tsai, also a member of Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party, took power.​

 

[Saif]

China threatens Taiwan with more trade measures after denouncing president's speech

China is studying further trade measures against Taiwan, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday, two days after Beijing denounced a speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te. The Chinese ministry said in a statement on its website that the Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan's r

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

China threatens Taiwan with more trade measures after denouncing president's speech
REUTERS
Published :
Oct 12, 2024 18:14
Updated :
Oct 12, 2024 18:14

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te gives a keynote address on national day to mark the 113th birthday of the Republic of China, Taiwan's formal name, in Taipei, Taiwan October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang

China is studying further trade measures against Taiwan, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday, two days after Beijing denounced a speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

The Chinese ministry said in a statement on its website that the Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan's ruling party, had not taken any practical measures to lift "trade restrictions" on China.

"At present, relevant (Chinese government) departments are studying further measures based on the conclusions of the investigation into trade barriers from Taiwan" against China, it added.

Taiwan's China policy making Mainland Affairs Council said it regretted and "strongly protested" the move.

"Blatant economic coercion will only arouse the resentment of the Taiwanese people and cause the distance between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to grow wider and wider," it said in a statement.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, detests Lai as a "separatist". Lai and his government reject Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

On Thursday at his keynote national day speech, Lai said the People's Republic of China had no right to represent Taiwan, but that the island was willing to work with Beijing to combat challenges like climate change, striking both a firm and conciliatory tone, drawing anger from China.

The Saturday announcement from China's commerce ministry could portend tariffs or other forms of economic pressure against the island in the near future.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which on Thursday said that Lai's speech promoted "separatist ideas" and incited confrontation, responded to the announcement by saying the fundamental reason behind the trade dispute was the "DPP authorities' stubborn adherence to the stance of 'Taiwan independence'".

"The political basis makes it difficult for cross-Strait trade disputes to be resolved through negotiation," it added.

In May, China reinstated tariffs on 134 items it imports from Taiwan, after Beijing's finance ministry said it would suspend concessions on the items under a trade deal because Taiwan had not reciprocated.

The Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between China and Taiwan was initially signed in 2010 and Taiwanese officials had previously told Reuters that China was likely to pressure Lai by ending some of the preferential trading terms within it.​

 

[Saif]

China ends day of military ‘warning’ drills around Taiwan

China ended a day of military drills around Taiwan on Monday in which it deployed fighter jets and warships in what Beijing said was a ‘stern warning’ to ‘separatist’ forces on the self-ruled island...

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China ends day of military ‘warning’ drills around Taiwan
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 14 October, 2024, 21:53

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an air force base in Hsinchu on Monday. | AFP photo

China ended a day of military drills around Taiwan on Monday in which it deployed fighter jets and warships in what Beijing said was a ‘stern warning’ to ‘separatist’ forces on the self-ruled island.

Beijing has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control and Monday’s drills represented its fourth round of large-scale war games in just over two years.

The United States said China’s actions were ‘unwarranted’ and risk ‘escalation’ as it called on Beijing to act with restraint.

Beijing announced at around 6:00pm (1000 GMT), 13 hours after the drills started, that they had been ‘successfully completed’.

The drills, dubbed Joint Sword-2024B, had ‘fully tested the integrated joint operation capabilities of its troops’, military spokesperson Captain Li Xi said in a statement.

‘Always on high alert, troops of the theater command keep strengthening combat readiness with arduous training, and will foil the ‘Taiwan Independence separatist attempts’,’ Li said.

President Lai Ching-te, who took office in May, has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan’s sovereignty, angering Beijing, which calls him a ‘separatist’.

Lai vowed on Monday to ‘protect democratic Taiwan and safeguard national security’, while the defence ministry said it had dispatched ‘appropriate forces’ in response to the drills.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said ‘Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Strait are irreconcilable’.

Taiwan detected 125 Chinese aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, around the island between 5:02am (2102 GMT) and 4:30pm, a defence ministry official said, describing it as a record for a single day. Seventeen warships were also spotted.

Outlying islands administered by Taipei had been put on ‘heightened alert’, Taiwan’s defence ministry said.

Beijing said its exercises served as a ‘stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ forces’.

The drills took place in ‘areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan Island’, Li said earlier.

Their aim was to focus ‘on subjects of sea-air combat-readiness patrol, blockade on key ports and areas’, Li said.

They also practised an ‘assault on maritime and ground targets’.

The previous large-scale drills held in May, three days after Lai’s inauguration, were called ‘Joint Sword-2024A’ and lasted two days.

China’s coast guard was also sent to conduct ‘inspections’, with a diagram released by the coast guard showing four fleets encircling Taiwan and moving in an anti-clockwise direction around the island.

The coast guard of the eastern province of Fujian — the closest area on the mainland to Taiwan — also said it conducted ‘comprehensive law enforcement patrols’ in waters near the Taipei-controlled Matsu islands.

Taiwan said four ‘formations’ of China coast guard ships had patrolled the island and briefly entered its restricted waters, but not its prohibited waters.

China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years, sending warplanes and other military aircraft while its ships maintain a near-constant presence around the island’s waters.

‘In the face of enemy threats, all officers and soldiers of the country are in full readiness,’ Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Monday.

Lai convened a high-level security meeting over the drills, said Joseph Wu, secretary-general of the National Security Council, who described the exercises as ‘inconsistent with international law’.

He vowed in his National Day speech on Thursday to ‘resist annexation’ and insisted that Beijing and Taipei were ‘not subordinate to each other’.

Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party has long defended the sovereignty and democracy of Taiwan, which has its own government, military and currency.

Beijing said on Monday the drills were ‘a legitimate and necessary operation for safeguarding state sovereignty and national unity’.

Lieutenant Colonel Fu Zhengnan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, said in a video shared by state media that the drills could ‘switch from training to combat at any time’.

‘If Taiwan separatists provoke once, the PLA’s operation around the island will make their first move,’ Fu said, referring to China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Taiwan’s coast guard said on Monday it had detained a Chinese man on one of its outlying islands after a possible ‘grey zone intrusion’, referring to tactics that fall short of a direct act of war.

In Taipei, people appeared to be largely unperturbed.

‘I won’t panic too much because they quite often have drills,’ 34-year-old engineer Benjamin Hsiao said.

‘It’s not the first time in recent years anyway, so I feel a bit numb.’

AFP journalists saw about five military jeeps mounted with machine guns on Monday afternoon patrolling around Taipei Songshan Airport, which is also a military air base.

The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to a civil war in which the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek were defeated by Mao Zedong’s communist fighters and fled to the island in 1949.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since then.​

 

[Saif]

China's military encircles Taiwan in 'warning' drills

China deployed fighter jets and warships to encircle Taiwan on Monday in drills Beijing said were aimed at sending a "stern warning" to "separatist" forces on the self-ruled island.

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China's military encircles Taiwan in 'warning' drills
AFP
Taipei
Published: 14 Oct 2024, 14: 27

Map of Taiwan showing China's "Joint Sword-2024B" military exercise areas, according to a map issued by the mainland's defense ministry AFP

China deployed fighter jets and warships to encircle Taiwan on Monday in drills Beijing said were aimed at sending a "stern warning" to "separatist" forces on the self-ruled island.

Beijing has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control and Monday's drills represent its fourth round of large-scale war games in just over two years.

The United States said China's actions were "unwarranted" and risk "escalation" as it called on Beijing to act with restraint.

President Lai Ching-te, who took office in May, has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan's sovereignty, angering Beijing, which calls him a "separatist".

Lai vowed on Monday to "protect democratic Taiwan and safeguard national security", while the defence ministry said it dispatched "appropriate forces" in response to the drills.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning hit back, saying "Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Strait are irreconcilable".

AFP journalists near the Hsinchu air force base, in the north of Taiwan, saw 12 fighter jets take off on Monday.

Outlying islands administered by Taipei were on "heightened alert" and "aircraft and ships will respond to enemy situations in accordance with the engagement rules", Taiwan's defence ministry said.

Beijing said its exercises served as a "stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces".

The drills, dubbed Joint Sword-2024B, are testing troops' "joint operations capabilities" according to Captain Li Xi, spokesman for the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command.

They are taking place in "areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan Island", he said.

The drills are "focusing on subjects of sea-air combat-readiness patrol, blockade on key ports and areas", Li said.

They also practised an "assault on maritime and ground targets".

The Liaoning aircraft carrier group "with its troops of army, navy, air force and rocket force" was also involved, Li said.

The previous large-scale drills held in May, three days after Lai's inauguration, were called "Joint Sword-2024A" and lasted two days.

China coast guard 'inspections'

China's coast guard was also sent to conduct "inspections" around the island.

A diagram released by the coast guard showed four fleets encircling Taiwan and moving in an anti-clockwise direction around the island.

The coast guard of the eastern province of Fujian -- the closest area on the mainland to Taiwan -- also said it was conducting "comprehensive law enforcement patrols" in waters near the Taipei-controlled Matsu islands.

Taiwan said four "formations" of China coast guard ships were patrolling the island, but they had not entered its prohibited or restricted waters.
China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years, sending warplanes and other military aircraft while its ships maintain a near-constant presence around the island's waters.

"In the face of enemy threats, all officers and soldiers of the country are in full readiness," Taiwan's defence ministry said on Monday.

Lai convened a high-level security meeting over the drills, said Joseph Wu, secretary-general of the National Security Council, who described the exercises as "inconsistent with international law".

In his National Day speech on Thursday, Lai vowed to "resist annexation" and insisted that Beijing and Taipei were "not subordinate to each other".
Lai's Democratic Progressive Party has long defended the sovereignty and democracy of Taiwan, which has its own government, military and currency.

Beijing said on Monday the drills were "a legitimate and necessary operation for safeguarding state sovereignty and national unity".

'Feel a bit numb'

Lieutenant colonel Fu Zhengnan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, said in a video shared by state media that the drills could "switch from training to combat at any time".

"If Taiwan separatists provoke once, the PLA's operation around the island will make their first move," Fu said, referring to China's People's Liberation Army.

Taiwan's coast guard said on Monday it had detained a Chinese man on one of its outlying islands after a possible "grey zone intrusion", referring to tactics that fall short of a direct act of war.

In Taipei, people appeared to be largely unperturbed.

"I won't panic too much because they quite often have drills," 34-year-old engineer Benjamin Hsiao told AFP.

"It's not the first time in recent years anyway, so I feel a bit numb."

AFP journalists on Monday afternoon saw about five military jeeps mounted with machine guns patrolling around Taipei Songshan Airport, which is also a military air base.

The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to a civil war in which the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek were defeated by Mao Zedong's communist fighters and fled to the island in 1949.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since then.​

 

[Saif]

China tested two missiles during war games: Taiwan

China test-fired two missiles during a day of military drills around Taiwan, a Taiwanese security official said, adding they were directed inland and not at the self-ruled island.

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China tested two missiles during war games: Taiwan

China test-fired two missiles during a day of military drills around Taiwan, a Taiwanese security official said, adding they were directed inland and not at the self-ruled island.

Beijing deployed a record number of military aircraft as well as warships and coast guard vessels to encircle Taiwan on Monday, in the fourth round of large-scale drills in just over two years.

During the exercises, which lasted 13 hours, China test-fired two missiles "into the interior", the national security official told a briefing Wednesday on the condition of anonymity.

While the exercises were a "serious" threat, they did not mean that war was "imminent" or "inevitable", the official said.

Though "their ability to switch from exercises to war has been gradually strengthening, we still believe that war is not imminent and it is not inevitable", the official said.

After then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, China unleashed massive military exercises that included sending missiles into the skies around Taiwan.

China's ruling Communist Party has never controlled Taiwan, but it claims the island as part of its territory and has said it will never renounce the use of force to take it.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure on the democratic island in recent years as it seeks to browbeat Taipei into accepting its claims of sovereignty.

China held war games three days after the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in May, who Beijing calls a "separatist."

It held another round of drills on Monday after Lai vowed in his National Day speech last Thursday to "resist annexation" and insisted that China and Taiwan were not "not subordinate to each other".

The security official said an "important part" of China's drills on Monday was a blockade exercise against Taiwan.

"We can imagine how serious the threat was to Taiwan that day and how much pressure it put on Taiwan's military," the official said.

"If China actually blockades the Taiwan Strait or Taiwan's major ports, it would cause chaos in the international trade order."​

 

[Saif]

US, Canada warships pass through Taiwan Strait

A US and a Canadian warship have passed through waters separating Taiwan and China, a week after Beijing held large-scale military drills in the sensitive passage.

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US, Canada warships pass through Taiwan Strait
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 21 October, 2024, 22:08

A US and a Canadian warship have passed through waters separating Taiwan and China, a week after Beijing held large-scale military drills in the sensitive passage.

The United States and its allies regularly cross through the 180-kilometre Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, angering Beijing.

China’s Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, but it claims the island as part of its territory and has said it will not renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.

‘The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) and Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on Oct. 20,’ the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement.

‘Higgins and Vancouver’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrated the United States’ and Canada’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle.’

China said Monday that the US and Canadian actions had disrupted ‘peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait’.

‘The PLA Eastern Theater Command organised naval and air forces to monitor and remain on alert throughout the transit, handling the situation according to laws and regulations,’ military spokesperson Captain Li Xi said in a statement.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said Monday the US and Canadian ships travelled ‘from south to north’ of the strait and the situation in the surrounding sea and airspace ‘remained normal’.

Beijing sent a record number of military aircraft as well as warships and coast guard vessels to encircle Taiwan on October 14 in the fourth round of major drills in just over two years.

Taiwan deployed ‘appropriate forces’ and put outlying islands on heightened alert in response to the exercises, which Beijing said were a ‘stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ forces’.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taipei in recent years, deploying on a near-daily basis warplanes and other military aircraft as well as ships around the island.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said Monday it had detected 14 Chinese military aircraft and 12 navy vessels in the 24 hours to 6:00am.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Taiwan said it detected 37 Chinese fighter jets, drones and other aircraft near the self-ruled island on Sunday as Beijing carried out ‘long-distance’ training flights.

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Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 03 November, 2024, 22:25

Taiwan said it detected 37 Chinese fighter jets, drones and other aircraft near the self-ruled island on Sunday as Beijing carried out ‘long-distance’ training flights.

China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years as Beijing pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island.

The Chinese aircraft were spotted from 9:00am (0100 GMT) and 35 of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China and Taiwan, and entered Taiwanese airspace on their way to the Western Pacific Ocean, the defence ministry said.

Taiwan’s military responded by deploying aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems, the ministry said.

The exercise came a day after Taiwan said it had detected a Chinese military ‘joint combat readiness patrol’ around the island involving fighter jets and warships.

Taiwan spotted 27 Chinese aircraft and six warships in the 24 hours to 6:00am on Sunday, the ministry said earlier.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has refused to rule out the use of force to bring the democratic island under its control.

Beijing held large-scale military drills around Taiwan last month, which were condemned by Taipei and its key backer the United States.

The Chinese military conducted long-distance training flights in late September, the ministry said previously, when Beijing also fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.​

 

[Saif]

We have to fight together to prevent war, Taiwan’s Lai says in US

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te said in the United States on Saturday that we have to ‘fight together to prevent war’, as he kicked off a week-long tour of the Pacific that has sparked fiery rhetoric from Beijing.

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We have to fight together to prevent war, Taiwan’s Lai says in US
Agence France-Presse . Honolulu 01 December, 2024, 22:59

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te said in the United States on Saturday that we have to ‘fight together to prevent war’, as he kicked off a week-long tour of the Pacific that has sparked fiery rhetoric from Beijing.

Taiwan faces the constant threat of a military attack by China, which it considers part of its territory and regularly deploys fighter jets and warships around the self-ruled island to press its claims.

Washington is Taipei’s most important partner and biggest provider of weapons, but maintains a ‘strategic ambiguity’ when it comes to putting boots on the ground to defend the island from China.

Speaking at a dinner in the US island state of Hawaii on Saturday, Lai said there were ‘no winners’ from conflict and ‘we have to fight, fight together to prevent war.’

Lai earlier received a standing ovation as he walked down a red carpet for the gathering with US government officials, state politicians, members of Congress, and Taiwanese expatriates.

He said the US flag and Hawaii state flag given to him as a gift ‘symbolise the longstanding friendship between Taiwan and the United States and lays the foundation for further cooperation in the future.’

The chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan, the body that serves as the de facto US embassy, said the partnership between Washington and Taipei was ‘rock solid’.

‘The opportunity for you to engage with thought leaders, the diaspora’s community and state and local leaders is invaluable, and I know will contribute to further strengthening the rock solid US-Taiwan partnership,’ Laura Rosenberger said in a pre-recorded video played at the dinner.

Like most countries, Washington does not recognise Taiwan diplomatically but maintains close unofficial ties.

Beijing opposes any international recognition of Taiwan and its claim to be a sovereign state and especially bristles at official contact between the island and the United States.

In a statement, China’s foreign ministry said it ‘strongly condemns’ the United States for Lai’s stopover and that it had ‘lodged serious protests with the US’.

‘China will closely follow the developments and take resolute and strong measures to defend our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ it said.

Lai, who is travelling abroad for the first time since taking office in May, was welcomed with red carpets, flower garlands and ‘alohas’ as he began the two-day stopover in Hawaii.

Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around, visiting a Pacific island history museum, an emergency management centre and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbour.

On his arrival, he was given the ‘red carpet treatment’ on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, according to his office, which said it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such a welcome.

He was met by Ingrid Larson, managing director in Washington of the AIT, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, and others.

Taiwanese government officials have previously stopped over on US soil during visits to the Pacific or Latin America, angering China, which has sometimes responded with military drills around the island.

After Hawaii, Lai will visit Taiwan’s allies the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — the only Pacific island nations among the 12 countries that recognize Taiwan’s claim to statehood — and stop over for one night in the US territory of Guam.

Lai said shortly before take-off in Taipei that the trip ‘ushered in a new era of values-based democracy’ and thanked the US government for ‘helping to make this trip a smooth one’.

He said he wanted to ‘continue to expand cooperation and deepen partnerships with our allies based on the values of democracy, peace and prosperity.’

‘I once again emphasise that we are all Team Taiwan. We all work together, and we can successfully achieve our goals,’ Lai told reporters on board the plane.

An AFP journalist is travelling with the president for the duration of the trip.

In a swift response to news of Lai’s trip on Thursday, Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China’s defence ministry said: ‘We firmly oppose official interaction with China’s Taiwan region in any form’ and vowed to ‘resolutely crush’ any attempts for Taiwan independence.

Lai’s trip follows the US approval on Friday of a proposed sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16s and radar systems, as well as communications equipment, in deals valued at $385 million in total.

The Taiwan president’s trip comes as Republican US president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in January.

During his campaign, Trump caused jitters by suggesting Taiwan should pay the United States for its defence.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan military on high alert

Taiwan raised its alert level yesterday saying China has set up seven zones of reserved airspace and deployed naval fleets and coast guard boats in what a security source described as the first military drills across a broad swathe of the region’s waters.

www.thedailystar.net

Taiwan military on high alert

China deploys 90 ships in likely drills

Taiwan raised its alert level yesterday saying China has set up seven zones of reserved airspace and deployed naval fleets and coast guard boats in what a security source described as the first military drills across a broad swathe of the region's waters.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters that China currently has nearly 90 navy and coast guard ships in waters near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, of which around two-thirds were navy vessels.

Beijing's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, had been expected to launch another round of exercises in response to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's trip to the Pacific, which included stopovers in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam, security sources had told Reuters.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan says China carrying out huge maritime deployment

China is deploying dozens of ships in its biggest maritime mobilisation around Taiwan in years, Taipei said Tuesday, after Beijing voiced fury at President Lai Ching-te’s recent visit to the United States...

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Taiwan says China carrying out huge maritime deployment
Agence France-Presse . Hsinchu, Taiwan 10 December, 2024, 21:59

Taiwan fighter jets take off as the island is on high alert for China war games. | AFP photo

China is deploying dozens of ships in its biggest maritime mobilisation around Taiwan in years, Taipei said Tuesday, after Beijing voiced fury at President Lai Ching-te’s recent visit to the United States.

Taiwanese forces were on high alert in anticipation of Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army staging war games in response to Lai’s US stopovers and call with Republican House speaker Mike Johnson.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said the number of Chinese ships in the waters around the island exceeded Beijing’s maritime response to then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, which was the largest-ever war games.

In those drills, Beijing deployed ballistic missiles, fighter jets and warships in what analysts described as practice for a blockade and ultimate invasion of Taiwan — and was a display of how far China’s military had come since the last Taiwan Strait crisis in the mid-1990s.

Nearly 90 Chinese naval and coast guard ships were currently in waters along the so-called first island chain, which links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, a senior Taiwanese security official said.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said earlier it had also detected 47 Chinese aircraft near the island in the 24 hours to 6:00am (2200 GMT).

That was the highest number of aircraft detected in a single day since a record 153 reported on October 15, after China staged major military drills in response to Lai’s National Day speech days earlier.

China — which regards Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control — has held four large-scale military exercises in just over two years, including the drills in response to Pelosi’s visit and two since Lai took office in May.

‘It can indeed be said that the scale of these maritime forces exceeds the four drills since 2022,’ defence ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters.

Sun said the latest exercises drew forces from three separate Chinese regional commands, while another defence ministry official said China’s actions were ‘not solely directed at Taiwan’.

There has been no public announcement by the PLA or Chinese state media about increased military activity in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea or Western Pacific Ocean, where Taiwan said Chinese ships had been detected.

However, a Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday that China will ‘resolutely defend’ its sovereignty.

The lack of an announcement from Beijing was unusual and, if drills were under way, could be a ‘deliberate strategy to sow confusion and exert psychological pressure,’ Duan Dang, a Vietnam-based maritime security analyst, said.

‘China’s current movements resemble what we would see during preparations for real combat, exceeding the scale of previous exercises,’ he added.

Taipei-based security analyst J Michael Cole said the mix of PLA navy vessels and coast guard ships highlighted Beijing’s efforts to ‘increase interoperability’ between the two.

‘Such efforts also blur the lines between civilian and military components and thus complicate Taiwan’s ability to respond proportionally,’ Cole said.

Beijing has asserted its claims over contested territories in the region far more boldly in recent years, as its military strength has grown.

The escalating actions — over islands in the East China Sea claimed by Japan, self-ruled Taiwan, and reefs and islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by Southeast Asian nations — have come as Beijing’s rivals have drawn closer to the United States.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday that China was the ‘only country in the world that has the intent and, increasingly, the capability to change the rules-based international order.’

‘We want to see this region, this area remain open to freedom of navigation and the ability to fly the skies and international airways whenever we want to,’ Austin said in a speech aboard the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier stationed in Japan.

‘We’re going to continue to work with our allies and partners to ensure that we can do just that.’

The United States is Taiwan’s most important backer and biggest supplier of arms, but has long maintained ‘strategic ambiguity’ when it comes to putting boots on the ground to defend the island.

Lai said Friday he was ‘confident’ of deeper cooperation with the next Donald Trump administration, a day after he spoke with US Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that angered China.

China’s foreign ministry warned Taiwan on Friday that ‘seeking independence with the help of the United States will inevitably hit a wall’, and called on Washington to ‘cease meddling in Taiwan-related affairs’.

The dispute between Taiwan and China goes back to 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong’s communist fighters and fled to the island.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan detects 16 Chinese warships around island

Taiwan said on Thursday it detected 16 Chinese warships in waters around the island, one of the highest numbers this year, as Beijing intensifies military pressure on Taipei.

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Taiwan detects 16 Chinese warships around island
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 12 December, 2024, 23:08

Taiwan said on Thursday it detected 16 Chinese warships in waters around the island, one of the highest numbers this year, as Beijing intensifies military pressure on Taipei.

The navy vessels, along with 34 Chinese aircraft, were spotted near Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6:00am (2200 GMT) Thursday, according to the defence ministry’s daily tally.

Beijing has been holding its biggest maritime drills in years from near the southern islands of Japan to the South China Sea, Taiwan authorities said this week.

Around 90 Chinese warships and coast guard vessels have been involved in the exercises that include simulating attacks on foreign ships and practising blockading sea routes, a Taiwan security official said Wednesday.

There has been no announcement by Beijing’s army or Chinese state media about increased military activity in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea or Western Pacific Ocean.

However, a recent Pacific tour by Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te that included two stops in US territory drew fury from Beijing, which claims the democratic island as part of China’s territory.

The security official said that China began planning the massive maritime operation in October and aimed to demonstrate it could choke off Taiwan and draw a ‘red line’ ahead of the next US administration.

The sea drills were ‘significantly larger’ than Beijing’s maritime response to then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, the security official said. Those war games were China’s largest-ever around Taiwan.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that China’s increased military activity around the island was evidence that Beijing was a ‘troublemaker’.

But China’s foreign ministry — whose spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied that drills were taking place — directed blame at Taiwan.

The de facto US embassy in Taiwan said Thursday it was monitoring ‘with concern’ Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army activity near the island and in the region.

While Beijing had not announced major drills in response to Lai’s trip, Chinese military activity was ‘elevated’, which was ‘consistent with levels we have seen during other large exercises,’ a spokesperson for the American Institute in Taiwan said.

James Char, an expert on China’s military at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said Beijing’s silence ‘serves as a way of demonstrating that the Taiwan Strait as well as the waters and airspace around the island falls under Chinese sovereignty — hence unnecessary to announce the drills to the world’.

‘This is another means by the mainland to force its position upon others,’ Char said, though he did not rule out Chinese confirmation at a later date.

Taiwan said Monday that the PLA had reserved airspace off the Chinese coast until Wednesday.

Vietnam-based maritime security analyst Duan Dang said Thursday that aviation data showed the airspace zones had ‘fully returned to normal’.

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.

Beijing has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around the island in recent years, and also opposes any international recognition of self-ruled Taiwan — especially when it comes to official contact between Taipei and Washington.

Lai spoke last week with Republican House speaker Mike Johnson in addition to his two recent stopovers on US soil.

The defence ministry’s tally of Chinese warships on Thursday was the highest since May 25, when 27 navy vessels were detected during Chinese military drills held days after Lai’s inauguration.​

 

[Saif]

Any drills around Taiwan ‘decided by us alone’

China’s defence ministry said yesterday that any drills it may hold around Taiwan “are decided by us alone”, as Taipei announced the apparent end of massive military exercises not formally declared by Beijing.

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Any drills around Taiwan ‘decided by us alone’
Says China’s defence ministry

China's defence ministry said yesterday that any drills it may hold around Taiwan "are decided by us alone", as Taipei announced the apparent end of massive military exercises not formally declared by Beijing.

Taiwanese authorities said this week that Beijing was holding its biggest maritime drills in years, deploying dozens of warships and coast guard vessels in an area stretching from near the southern islands of Japan to the South China Sea.

Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy director general of Taiwan's coast guard, said yesterday that the ships had returned to China, adding that Taipei considered the manoeuvres to be "over".

Asked about the alleged drills yesterday, Wu Qian, a spokesman for Beijing's defence ministry, did not confirm whether they had taken place.

But he said that "whether or not we hold exercises, and when we hold them, are decided by us alone, based on our own needs and the circumstances of our struggle".

"Safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, and the common interests of compatriots across the Taiwan Strait are the (military's) sacred duties," Wu said.

"No matter whether it holds exercises, the People's Liberation Army will not be absent or soft-hearted when it comes to striking down (Taiwanese) 'independence' and pushing for unification," he said, referring to the Chinese armed forces.

Any effort by Taipei to achieve independence "will inevitably be strictly punished and are doomed to failure", Wu said.​

 

[Saif]

China holds ‘shooting’ drills

China’s military yesterday held “shooting training” off Taiwan’s southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing’s control.

www.thedailystar.net

China holds ‘shooting’ drills
Vows ‘reunification’ push; Taipei sends forces to keep watch

China's military yesterday held "shooting training" off Taiwan's southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing's control.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activities, including several rounds of full-scale war games during the past three years.

Shortly before 9:00 am, Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement, it had detected 32 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a "joint combat readiness drill" with Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait area.

"During this period it even blatantly violated international practice by setting up a drills area in waters about 40 nautical miles (74 km) off the coast ... without prior warning, claiming that it would carry out 'shooting training'," the ministry added.

Taiwan's major southwestern population centres of Kaohsiung and Pingtung are both home to important naval and air bases. Kaohsiung is also home to Taiwan's largest port, a busy hub for global shipping.

The exercises endanger the safety of international flights and shipping and are a "blatant provocation" to regional peace and stability, the ministry said, adding that it had dispatched its own forces to keep watch.

There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills around Taiwan and its defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's other recent military activity in the region, such as that off Australia's coast, are "proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific," Taiwan's ministry said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule, and has denounced both President Lai Ching-te as a "separatist", and the United States for its support for Taiwan. Earlier yesterday, the ruling Communist Party's leader, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese "reunification".​

 

[Saif]

China launches military drills around Taiwan, calls its president a ‘parasite’

China’s military said it had begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to “serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”, calling Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-Te a “parasite”.

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China launches military drills around Taiwan, calls its president a ‘parasite’

Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong is seen in this screenshot taken from a video released by the Eastern Theatre Command of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) on April 1, 2025. Photo taken from Reuters

China's military on Tuesday said it had begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence", calling Taiwan's President Lai Ching-Te a "parasite".

The exercises around the democratically governed island, which China views as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring under its control, come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month.

China detests Lai as a "separatist," and in a video accompanying the Eastern Theater Command's announcement of the drills depicted him as cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan.

"The focus is on exercises such as combat readiness patrols at sea and in the air, seizing comprehensive control, striking maritime and land targets, and imposing blockade controls on key areas and routes," the Eastern Theater Command said on its official WeChat social media account.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that China's Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered the island's response area on Monday, adding that it had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated land-based missile systems in response.

"The Chinese Communist Party has continued to increase its military activities around Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific region... and has become the biggest 'troublemaker' in the international community," the statement added.

'CLOSING IN'

China's military released a series of propaganda videos in quick succession after the drill announcement, depicting Chinese warships and fighter jets encircling Taiwan, Taipei being aimed at from above, and military vehicles patrolling city streets.

A video of a poster accompanying the drills titled "Closing In," and showing Chinese forces surrounding the island, was released on the Eastern Theater Command's Weibo.

This was followed by a video titled "Shell", depicting president Lai as a green cartoon bug spawning parasites across the island, on the Eastern Theater Command's WeChat page.

"Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction," the animation said.

Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said such rhetoric was not conducive to peace and "shows their provocative character," when asked about Lai's cartoon depiction.

A third video, "Subdue Demons and Vanquish Evils", featured Sun Wukong, the magical monkey king from the Ming Dynasty epic "Journey to the West" as he is depicted in the "Black Myth: Wukong" hit video game.

It opens with the video's title flashing across the screen and the Chinese mythical warrior riding on clouds before cutting to footage of Chinese fighter jets.

"The joint exercise and training conducted by the Eastern Theater of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the vicinity of Taiwan Island is a resolute punishment for the Lai Ching-Te authorities' rampant 'independence' provocations," said Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

Taiwan's Koo told reporters the PLA should focus first on resolving its issues with corruption instead of destroying peace and stability in the region.

China's military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge over the past few years, which saw former Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu ousted in October 2024.

China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Koo's remarks.

The Global Times, which is owned by the People's Daily newspaper of the governing Chinese Communist Party, said the drill had not been given a code name to show that Chinese military forces surrounding the island "has become a normal practice," citing Zhang Chi of National Defence University.

"Through a series of exercises held in the Taiwan Strait in recent years, the PLA has strongly enhanced its ability to prepare for war and fight battles," the article on the paper's Weixin social media page added.​

 

[Saif]

China deployed 2 aircraft carrier groups, dozens of ships: Taiwan

China deployed two aircraft carrier groups and dozens of ships in waters north and south of Taiwan last month, a Taiwanese security official said Monday, as Beijing keeps up military pressure on the self-ruled island.

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China deployed 2 aircraft carrier groups, dozens of ships: Taiwan
Agence France-Presse . Taipei, Taiwan 02 June, 2025, 22:24

China deployed two aircraft carrier groups and dozens of ships in waters north and south of Taiwan last month, a Taiwanese security official said Monday, as Beijing keeps up military pressure on the self-ruled island.

Up to 70 Chinese ships, including navy vessels, were monitored from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea from May 1-27, a security official said on the condition of anonymity.

Beijing has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around Taiwan in recent years as it pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island.

China has refused to rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control, leaving the island to face the constant threat of invasion.

‘Its military actions and grey-zone activities have included large-scale deployments across the entire island chain, involving comprehensive maximum pressure,’ the security official said in remarks released Monday.

‘On average, there have been between 50 to 70 naval vessels and government ships as well as hundreds of sorties by various military aircraft continuously conducting harassment operations.’

Some of the ships passed through the Miyako Strait to the Western Pacific Ocean for ‘long-distance training, including combined air-sea exercises’, the official said.

Another 30 Chinese vessels with no name, documentation or port of registry were detected near Taiwan’s Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait on May 19 and had been ‘deliberately sent to harass’, the official said.

And a total of 75 Chinese aircraft were involved in three ‘combat readiness patrols’ near the island during the month, Taiwan’s defence ministry figures show.

Asia-Pacific’s so-called first island chain links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, while the Yellow Sea is west of South Korea — all partners of the United States and critical to its influence in the region.

The Taiwanese security official said China’s activities in May were ‘more provocative than previously observed’.

In one incident, Tokyo and Beijing exchanged diplomatic protests each accusing the other of ‘violating’ national airspace, after a Chinese helicopter and coast guard vessels faced off with a Japanese aircraft around disputed islands.

The Chinese actions were a demonstration of ‘military expansion’ and were aimed at controlling the ‘entire island chain and improving their capabilities’, the official said.

China’s deployment coincided with Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te’s speech on May 20 marking his first year in office and came ahead of an annual security forum in Singapore at the weekend.

US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China was ‘credibly preparing’ to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia.

Beijing, which did not send its defence minister Dong Jun to the summit, warned Washington ‘should not play with fire’.

‘It felt like they were in a state where they could announce something at any moment, trying to seize on some opportunity or excuse to act,’ the Taiwanese official said of the Chinese.

China has carried out several large-scale military drills around Taiwan since Lai took office.​