China has launched large-scale military drills around
Taiwan, accusing its leaders of being “separatists” and “parasites” who were pushing the democratically run island into war.
The drills, accompanied by a propaganda campaign, were launched without warning on Tuesday morning. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said they were a “stern warning” to Taiwan’s democratically elected government over what Beijing claims is separatist activity.
“China’s reunification is an unstoppable trend - it will happen, and it must happen,” Guo Jiakun, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told a daily press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Forces from the PLA Navy, Army and Rocket Force were approaching Taiwan from “multiple directions”, said China’s Eastern Theatre Command, which manages military operations in the region, on its official WeChat social media account.
It said the drills would focus on “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 Command later said China’s Coast Guard was also involved, conducting what it called “law-enforcement patrols” close to Taiwan’s main island. A key element of China’s military advancement has been the integration of non-military arms, including the Coast Guard, and its maritime militia fleet of fishing boats, and the conversion or creation of civilian ships for military transport.
“These drills are concrete actions to exercise legitimate jurisdiction and control over the Island in accordance with the one-China principle,” said Zhu Anqing, a China Coast Guard spokesperson.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected 71 PLA aircraft and at least 19 Navy and Coast Guard vessels on Tuesday , including the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong. More than 10 of the ships approached close to Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which stretches 24 nautical miles (44km) from the coast, military officials told Reuters. Taiwan’s military had deployed aircraft, Navy ships, and coastal missile systems in response, the ministry said.
Beijing claims Taiwan is Chinese territory and is building capability to seize it by military force. Analysts believe it is not there yet, but has been making significant advances and in the meantime uses military pressure – such as drills – and other coercive means to push Taiwan towards submission.
“‘Taiwan independence’ means war, and pursuing ‘Taiwan independence’ means pushing the people of Taiwan into a dangerous situation of war,” Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, claimed in a statement.