The Chinese army encircles Taiwan and sends its new president an unmistakable message

• China began conducting military exercises around Taiwan after Lai Ching-te became president.

• Chinese fighter jets, frigates and destroyers were active during the exercise.

• China’s actions are seen as punishment for Taiwan’s separatist stance amid rising tensions.

China’s armed forces began carrying out large-scale military exercises around Taiwan on Thursday, just days after the island’s newly elected president Lai Ching-te took office.

It is not the first time that China has conducted such a large exercise around Taiwan, but it is a remarkably large event. The move sends an unmistakable message to Taiwan, delivers strategic benefits to Beijing and sets a sour tone for Sino-Taiwanese relations as a new president begins his term.

Exercise “Joint Sword” started Thursday morning and will last two days. The exercises will focus on “joint combat readiness patrols in sea and air, joint capture of comprehensive battlefield control and joint precision strikes on key targets,” Chinese state media said of the exercises.

Taiwan’s military said China had deployed 33 aircraft, 16 coast guard ships and 15 naval vessels for the exercise. In addition to the encirclement of Taiwan’s main island, Chinese forces also conducted exercises in the waters around Kinmen, Matsuri, Wuqiu and Dongyin islands.

The Chinese exercises mainly included mock attacks by fighter jets with live ammunition and exercises with various naval vessels, including frigates and destroyers. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense posted a video condemning the Chinese actions and showing the various locations in the area where Chinese forces are operating.

Taiwan’s military has responded to the Chinese activities by sending ground, naval and air forces to closely monitor the exercises for escalation. The Defense Ministry has sharply criticized the exercises, calling them “irrational provocations and actions that undermine regional peace and stability.”

“We stand ready with strong will and restraint. We do not seek conflict, but we will not shy away from it. We have the confidence to safeguard our national security,” the ministry added.

The Chinese military characterized the exercises as a “strong punishment for the separatist acts of the Taiwan independence forces,” Chinese state media said in their reporting, and also called them “a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces” such as the US and Japan.

This kind of rhetoric, while typical of Beijing, follows the May 20 inauguration of Lai Ching-te, who was a former vice president under Tsai Ing-wen.

Lai’s victory was seen as a historic move for Taiwan. It signaled voters’ desire to keep the Democratic Progressive Party, which has generally taken a tougher stance on policies toward China and prioritized Taiwanese autonomy, in power for an unprecedented third consecutive term. let it stay.

Sino-Taiwanese tensions have flared under Tsai, and Lai’s rhetoric indicates he will maintain many of Tsai’s policies toward Beijing. In his inauguration speech, the new president emphasized broad continuity with Tsai’s approach to relations between the two countries, but also expressed his desire to maintain the status quo with China. The new president claimed that peace is “the only option.” However, Beijing has repeatedly claimed that violence is on the table as an option to achieve its goals.

During his inaugural address, Lai addressed China’s increasing pressure on the island, saying: “Given the many threats and attempts at infiltration from China, we must demonstrate our resolve to defend our nation.”

This, together with China’s long-held disdain for Lai, prompted the Chinese media to say that Lai had “outdone” some previous Taiwanese presidents who had been labeled “separatists” by China.

A spokesperson for China Taiwan’s State Council Affairs Bureau said the drills were, at least in part, a punishment and a response to Lai’s inauguration speech.

Although Taiwanese and US officials have long assumed that Chinese drills would take place around the inauguration, the scale is still concerning, effectively demonstrating that China can, at any time it chooses, encircle Taiwan in an attempt to force its people to to accept Beijing’s control.

For Beijing, the benefit of this exercise is not just intimidation or a show of force. It also helps them normalize “large-scale activities around Taiwan, to deceive about future intentions,” Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and strategist who focuses on evolutions in warfare, wrote on X.

The exercise also “bullies and tries to coerce the Taiwanese government” and suggests that unification is inevitable, he added. ‘Of course it’s not inevitable, but CCP [Chinese Communist Party] is using the same propaganda book as Putin in Ukraine,” he said.

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