China launched large-scale military maneuvers around Taiwan on Thursday, which it presents as “severe punishment” against its new president Lai Ching-te and immediately described by Taipei as “provocations and irrational actions”.
China considers Taiwan to be one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying
This week, Beijing called Mr. Lai’s inauguration speech on Monday an “admission of Taiwan’s independence” and threatened him with “retaliation.” China considers Taiwan to be one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
Its military exercises began Thursday at 7:45 a.m. (11:45 p.m. GMT Wednesday) and are expected to last until Friday inclusive, Li Xi, the spokesperson for the Chinese army’s eastern theater, said in a statement. They take place “in the Taiwan Strait, in the north, south and east of the island of Taiwan, as well as in the areas around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin”. The latter islands, particularly Kinmen, are located in close proximity to the Chinese east coast.
Army, Navy, Air Force and rocket unit involved
The maneuvers constitute a “severe punishment for the separatist acts of the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning against interference and provocation by external forces,” Li Xi said. China says it favors “peaceful” reunification with the island territory populated by 23 million inhabitants and governed by a democratic system. But it has never renounced the use of military force.
Called “Joint Sword-2024A”, these new maneuvers involve the army, navy, air force and rocket unit. The objective is to “test the real joint combat capabilities of the command forces”, indicated the spokesperson, notably through “taking control of the entire battlefield and precision strikes on targets keys”.
For Taiwan, these maneuvers are “irrational provocations”
The Taiwanese Defense Ministry “strongly condemned” these Chinese maneuvers, which it described as “provocations and irrational actions”. “We deployed maritime, air and land forces in response (…) to defend freedom, democracy and sovereignty” of the island, he stressed. The Taiwanese coast guard announced that it had deployed its fleet at sea to “firmly defend the sovereignty and security” of the island.
Chinese state television CCTV published a map showing the nine areas where military exercises are taking place. The closest to the island of Taiwan appears to be located less than 50 kilometers from the coast.
During his swearing-in on Monday, Lai Ching-te, described in the past as a “dangerous separatist” by Beijing, promised to defend democracy in the face of what he presents as Chinese threats. He called on Beijing to “stop its political and military intimidation”, which has been going on for several years. Taiwanese separatists “will be pilloried of shame for history,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded on Tuesday. “Lai Ching-te’s betrayal of his nation and his ancestors is shameful,” added the minister, who criticizes Lai Ching-te in particular for wanting to deepen the cultural separation between the island and the continent.
Taiwanese authorities strengthen ties with the United States
This week, China also responded by sanctioning several American companies to denounce the United States’ arms sale to Taiwan. Since the coming to power on the island of Tsai Ing-wen (2016-2024), whose party, the same as Lai Ching-te, considers this territory as already independent, the Taiwanese authorities have strengthened their ties with the States -United.
“Relying on foreign countries is taking the wrong path,” the Chinese army said Thursday in a message showing impressive and threatening images of fighter planes, ships and a missile flying away in a plume of smoke. “The homeland must be reunified and will inevitably be reunified,” she stressed.
The previous large-scale Chinese military exercises around Taiwan took place in August 2023, a “severe warning” according to Beijing after a visit by Mr. Lai, then vice-president, to the United States. Before that, Beijing had also launched maneuvers of historic scale in August 2022 after the visit to the island of Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. “The current exercise is called Joint Sword-2024A, which probably means there will be several this year,” the “A” suggesting that it is the first in a series of maneuvers, indicates analyst Bill Bishop in his Sinocism newsletter.
An open conflict in the Taiwan Strait, even if most experts exclude this hypothesis in the short term, would have a devastating effect on the economy: more than 50% of the containers transported in the world transit through this strait and the island produces 70% of the planet’s semiconductors.