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from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/05/23/asia-pacific/taiwan-china-military-drills-lai/

China's military kicks off large-scale 'punishment' drills around Taiwan
A Chinese military ship northwest of Pengjia Island, off the coast of
northern Taiwan, on Thursday
A Chinese military ship northwest of Pengjia Island, off the coast of
northern Taiwan, on Thursday | TAIWAN COAST GUARD / VIA AFP-JIJI
BY JESSE JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
SHARE
May 23, 2024

China on Thursday kicked off two days of joint military drills involving
mock strikes around democratic Taiwan, in what Beijing said was a
“strong punishment for separatist acts.”
The military exercises, which were being conducted in five areas around
Taiwan and four spots near Taiwanese-controlled islands near the Chinese mainland, garnered a stern response from Taipei and came just days after
the self-ruled island’s new president was sworn into office.

Li Xi, a spokesperson for the Chinese command, said military services
including the army, navy, air force and rocket force were taking part in
the joint drills, code-named Joint Sword-2024A, which began at 7:45 a.m. Thursday.

Li said the drills focused on joint sea-air combat-readiness patrols,
joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control and joint precision
strikes on key targets. They also involved “the patrol of vessels and
planes closing in on areas around the island of Taiwan and integrated operations inside and outside the island chain to test the joint real
combat capabilities” of the Chinese military’s Eastern Command’s forces.

Dozens of fighter jets carrying live missiles later conducted mock
strikes against high-value military targets in coordination with
warships, Chinese state-run media reported.


The drills were intended to “serve as a strong punishment for the
separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning
against the interference and provocation by external forces” — words
seen as a thinly veiled warning for new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te
and the democratic island’s top backers, namely the United States and Japan.

China views Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary, and has called the issue nonnegotiable. Lai’s January election angered Beijing, which regards the new Taiwanese leader as a “dangerous separatist.”

Although the exact number of warplanes and warships taking part in the
drills was not given, China's military has not conducted exercises in
such a large number of places at once since April last year, though it
did carry out drills focused on the "omnidirectional encirclement" of
Taiwan last August in response to a trip by then-Vice President Lai to
the U.S.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry strongly condemned the exercises, calling them “irrational provocations and actions that undermine regional peace and stability,” adding that it had dispatched sea, air and ground forces in response.

“We stand ready, with firm will and restraint,” the ministry said in a statement. “We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one. We
have the confidence to safeguard our national security.”

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares for takeoff at a
base in Hsinchu, in northern Taiwan, on Wednesday, after China launched
the first of two days of military exercises aimed at punishing the
self-ruled island following a vow by its new president to defend democracy.
A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares for takeoff at a
base in Hsinchu, in northern Taiwan, on Wednesday, after China launched
the first of two days of military exercises aimed at punishing the
self-ruled island following a vow by its new president to defend
democracy. | AFP-JIJI
Lai used his inauguration speech on Monday to deliver an unambiguous
message to Beijing and its aspirations for unifying the democratic
island with the mainland: Taiwan will not be “subordinate” to China.

The new leader pledged to protect stability and maintain the status quo
in the island’s fraught relationship with China, and called on Beijing
“to cease their political and military intimidation” amid rising fears
of conflict.

The island's Defense Ministry said the "pretext" of punishing Taipei for alleged separatist acts by conducting military exercises "does not
contribute to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and
highlights (China’s) hegemonic nature."

In Tokyo on Thursday, the Japanese government's top spokesman stressed
the need for speaking frankly with Beijing on the Taiwan issue.

"It is important for Japan to continue to communicate directly and
firmly with the Chinese side on the necessity for peace and stability in
the Taiwan Strait, and to work closely with the United States and other partners to clearly convey this position," Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference.

The Chinese exercises are “indubitably” China’s response to Lai’s inauguration speech “and perhaps Beijing’s way of showing its
displeasure to the outside world over his reiteration that Taiwan and
China are "not subordinate to each other," said James Char, a research
fellow with the China program at the S. Rajaratnam School of
International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Domestically, he added, it is also “a tried and tested way” by China’s ruling Communist Party “to assuage popular nationalist concerns
regarding the regime’s ability to defend Chinese national sovereignty vis-a-vis Taiwan.”

People sit in a cafe in Keelung, Taiwan, on Wednesday as a news
broadcast shows China announcing new military drills around the island.
People sit in a cafe in Keelung, Taiwan, on Wednesday as a news
broadcast shows China announcing new military drills around the island.
| REUTERS
The Chinese military’s Eastern Command also released a map showing the
exact locations of the drills: In the Taiwan Strait, the north, south
and east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the Taiwanese-controlled
islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin.

In an unusual development, the China Coast Guard also said Thursday that
it was conducting “comprehensive law enforcement drills” near the
islands of Wuqiu and Dongyin to “test the capabilities of joint patrols, rapid response and emergency handling.”

Chinese state-run media said those drills were the first time the
mainland's coast guard vessels had entered waters around Wuqiu and
Dongyin islands.

Char said that compared with the large-scale, four-day Chinese military
drills that followed then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to
Taipei in August 2022, “the geographical expanse entailed this time is perhaps greater since it also involves the additional outlying islands
near the Chinese coastline.”

But he also said that while it was difficult to predict whether the
Chinese side may extend the exercises’ duration or attempt more
provocative moves as it did after Pelosi’s visit, such actions appeared unlikely following Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe
Biden’s summit in California last November.

“Based on the desire demonstrated recently by both Beijing and
Washington since the Xi-Biden meeting in San Francisco to lower
tensions, we may speculate that the (Chinese military) would unlikely
enforce a blockade over Taiwan, extend the military drill past the
two-day mark or conduct a controversial high-risk maneuver such as
launching missiles over Taiwan,” he said.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te delivers his inaugural speech after
being sworn into office during a ceremony at the Presidential Office in
Taipei on Monday.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te delivers his inaugural speech after
being sworn into office during a ceremony at the Presidential Office in
Taipei on Monday. | TAIWAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE / VIA AFP-JIJI
KEYWORDS
TAIWAN, CHINA, PLA, U.S. MILITARY, LAI CHING-TE
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