China Holds Military Drills Around Taiwan as 'Punishment'; US Says Beijing's Reaction 'Concerning But Not Unexpected'

China launched military drills on Thursday to surround Taiwan, citing “strong punishment” for the island’s “separatist acts” after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan’s new president.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary. The two-day drills involve military aircraft and naval vessels surrounding the island to test their combat capabilities, China’s People’s Liberation Army announced. Taiwan responded quickly to China’s announcement on Thursday morning, saying it had deployed sea, air and ground forces to “defend freedom”.

“The Ministry of National Defence strongly condemned such irrational provocations and actions that undermine regional peace and stability,” it said. China has previously branded Lai a “dangerous separatist” who would bring “war and decline” to the island. On Tuesday, it warned of strong reprisals to Lai’s inauguration speech, in which he vowed to continue to build up Taiwan’s defence capabilities.

“In face of the many threats and attempts of infiltration from China, we must demonstrate our resolution to defend our nation,” said Lai, 64. US Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka said Thursday that China’s military drills around self-ruled Taiwan are “concerning” but not unexpected. “We expected something like this, frankly,” the US Indo-Pacific Command deputy commander told an audience in Canberra, adding, however: “It is concerning.”

The drills, which began at 7:45 am, are taking place in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of the island, PLA Eastern Theater Command Naval Colonel Li Xi said. They 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”, Li said.

Joint Sword-2024A

As the drills, dubbed “Joint Sword-2024A”, were launched, commentary on state Chinese broadcaster CCTV declared them “a powerful disciplinary action” against Taiwanese separatism. China’s military put out a series of posters touting what it called its “cross-strait lethality”. They featured rockets, jets and naval vessels next to blood-stained text. One showed rockets being fired at an island, while another showed tanks emerging from the sea. “The weapon aimed at ‘Taiwan independence’ to kill ‘independence’ is already in place,” it declared.

Beijing, which split with Taipei at the end of a civil war in 1949, regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified. Relations have plunged in recent years as China has stepped up pressure on the democratic island of 23 million people, periodically stoking worries about a potential invasion. The last time China announced similar military exercises around Taiwan was in August 2023 after Lai, then vice president, stopped over in the United States on a visit to Paraguay.

(With agency inputs)

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