This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
China’s military announced the “successful completion” of a large-scale exercise around Taiwan on Monday, which it launched just days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te reaffirmed the island’s independence in his National Day speech.
The Chinese Eastern Theater Command said the Joint Sword-2024B exercise in the air and waters of the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan island was completed and its troops’ joint operation capabilities were “fully tested.”
Earlier in the morning, the command’s spokesperson, Senior Col. Li Xi, said that all branches of the Eastern Theater Command, including the infantry, navy, air force and rocket force were taking part in the exercise to send “a stern warning to the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces,” a term China normally uses to refer to the Taiwan government.
“Ships and aircraft will approach Taiwan island from multiple directions, with joint strikes by various military services,” Li said.
“The exercise focuses on training in maritime and air combat readiness patrols, blockade of key ports and areas, sea and land strikes, seizing comprehensive control, and other subjects, testing the joint combat capabilities of the theater’s forces.”
A Chinese aircraft carrier group led by the country’s first carrier, Liaoning, is also operating to the east of Taiwan island.
Taiwan said 34 Chinese warships and 125 aircraft were detected around the island on Monday.
Irrational provocations
Reports of the military drills emerged last week, when President Lai was preparing to deliver his keynote speech on Taiwan’s National Day in which he asserted the island’s sovereignty and the rights of Taiwanese people to decide their future.
Beijing often stages military exercises around the island in response to important political developments in relation to Taiwan, which it considers a Chinese province that should be reunited with the mainland at any cost.
Days after Lai’s inauguration on May 20, 2024, China conducted a two-day exercise – Joint Sword-2024A.
Taiwan’s ministry of national defense on Monday strongly condemned what it called China’s “irrational and provocative actions” and said it would deploy “appropriate forces to respond and defend our national sovereignty.”
Taiwan’s presidential office said that China should “face up to the fact of the existence of the Republic of China,” Taiwan’s formal name.
“China should cease its military provocations that undermine regional security and respect the Taiwanese people’s democratic and free way of life,” it said.
China responded by saying Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Strait were “irreconcilable.”
“Provocations from pro-independence forces will inevitably face countermeasures,” spokesperson Mao Ning said at the foreign ministry’s regular news briefing in Beijing.
Shortly after China announced the drills, the U.S. State Department issued a statement to express concern, saying that China’s “response with military provocations to a routine annual speech is unwarranted and risks escalation.”
“We call on the PRC to act with restraint and to avoid any further actions that may undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region,” said the department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller, referring to China by its official name the People’s Republic of China, or PRC.
“We continue to monitor PRC activities and coordinate with allies and partners regarding our shared concerns,” Miller said, adding that Washington “remains committed to its longstanding one China policy.”
‘Display of intimidation’
The early morning announcement of the Joint Sword-2024B drills might have been aimed at the opening of a business week and the Taiwan stock market on Monday, said Shen Ming-shih, a Taiwanese military expert from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, or INDSR, in Taipei.
“It is mainly a display of capabilities and intimidation against Taiwan,” Shen said.
Taiwan’s stock exchange, however, was largely unaffected, ending Monday’s session little changed from Friday’s close.
“This was all expected,” said Ben Lewis, an independent military analyst, “Taiwan will likely do what it always does: monitor closely and ensure that the Chinese military does not violate any territorial boundaries.”
Both analysts said they do not anticipate any dangerous escalation, with Shen noting that “all the weapons deployed this time are those used in exercises against Taiwan in the past.”
The Eastern Theater Command released a map of the current war game with six operation areas. Joint Sword-2024A in May had five similar operation areas.
“It looks a segmented and zoned exercise, not a one-time large-scale military exercise,” said IDSR’s Shen, “The scale of this exercise is smaller than that of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in 2022.”
When Pelosi, the most senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, arrived in Taipei in August 2022, China held a military exercise, including live-fire drills in six areas surrounding Taiwan.
However, there are no live-fire exercises and so far no signs of any missile launches this time.
“Whether the people of Taiwan are afraid or not, you can tell by looking at today’s stock market,” Shen added.
