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On Monday, William Lai Ching-te was inaugurated as the President of Taiwan, and during his 30-minute address, called Taiwan “already an independent sovereign country”.
Following the comments, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched major coordinated war games across the Taiwan Strait that simulated “attacking the enemy’s high-value military targets,” and were also meant to “test the joint combat and real combat capabilities of the theatre forces”.
Analysts don’t see them as a prelude to war, but rather part of Beijing’s long-term preparation for a potential war over the island that it considers part of China.
Delegations from the 8 nations that maintain relations with Taiwan arrived in Taipei to congratulate President Lai on his victory and inauguration, including Somaliland, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands, and the US, on behalf of which US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman and China hawk Michael McCaul traveled directly to the island.
McCaul quoted former US general Douglas MacArthur, Taipei Times reports, in defining Taiwan as “the unsinkable carrier” and said the general’s description was “prescient”. He also said he would return later in the month to help organize arms shipments to the island.
In his address, President Lai called on Beijing “to cease their political and military intimidation against Taiwan… face the reality of the Republic of China’s existence, respect the choices of the people of Taiwan,” and “engage in cooperation with the legal government chosen by Taiwan’s people”.
Beijing spokesmen responded by calling any movement toward Taiwanese independence a “dead end”.
A strong punishment
PLA Naval Colonel Li Xi, spokesperson for the organization’s Eastern Theater command, called the exercises “a strong punishment for the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces and a serious warning against interference and provocation by external forces”.
Multiple destroyer and frigate formations reportedly surrounded the island, just 110 miles across the sea from China, and Taiwan radar detected more than 30 PLA warplanes entering the line that used to mark the start of Taiwanese airspace—called the air defense identification zone.
“Under the support and cover of the Army and the Rocket Force, multiple types of aircraft were organized and loaded with live ammunition, flew to the predetermined airspace to establish multiple strike positions, and coordinated with destroyers, frigates, and missile speedboats to simulate attacking the ‘enemy’s’ high-value military targets and reconnaissance and patrol aircraft,” China’s state broadcaster CCTV said in a report.
Drew Thompson, a senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told CNN the drills were part of a pattern, not anything out of the already-tension-rich norm.
“It is not a surprise, nor is it a tactical response to President Lai’s speech. These exercises are part of the PLA’s long-term, strategic preparations to fight and win a war over Taiwan”. WaL
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PICTURED ABOVE: Chinese guided missile frigate Nantong is seen taking part in the military drills. PC: People’s Liberation Army/Weibo
