China-Taiwan drills live: Concern across region as China launches mock invasion

China’s mock military drill is not meant to accomplish anything “more than warn the just-inaugurate” Lai Ching-te administration that they are more than ready to react, and to deter any moves towards so-called Taiwan independence, says Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the institute of defence and strategic studies in Singapore.

Warning about potential escalation between the two, he says: “These opposing forces could actually be operating in pretty close proximity. The Taiwan forces are not just shadowing the individual Chinese assets… that brings them into direct contact with Chinese forces… there is the risk of inadvertent or accidental military clashes.”

For Beijing, Lai Ching-te’s speech asserting Taiwan’s sovereignty “is a declaration of war”, explains Victor Gao, chair professor at Soochow University in China. This is because Mr Lai “clearly distinguished China from Taiwan and completely destroyed the one-China principle.

“China wants to show that if Lai still wants to take the path of Taiwan independence… it can make Taiwan collapse without a war within a week or two, which will deal a fatal blow to the people of Taiwan. I think cross-Strait relations have reached a watershed, if Lai dares take a wrong step forward then there will be a cataclysm.”

Taiwan president Lai Ching-te said that he will continue to defend the values of freedom and democracy in the face of “external” challenges and threats.

Mr Lai made the comments to military officers in the northern city of Taoyuan, on the same day China launched drills around Taiwan.

China’s military drills near Taiwan is “the normalisation of abnormal action,” says Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka, deputy commander of US-Indo-Pacific command in Canberra.

“Just because we expect that behaviour doesn’t mean we shouldn’t condemn it,” he says.

“We need to condemn it publicly and it needs to come from us but it also needs to come from nations in the region … it is far more powerful when it comes from nations in this region. It is concerning but I also believe in my heart of hearts that conflict between our two nations is not inevitable and its not a foregone conclusion.”

China could launch further military drills after the current one near Taiwan is over, having so far staged a series of exercises including mock attacks on Taiwanese and foreign ships, Taiwanese security officials said.

Some Chinese coast guard boats near Taiwan also conducted mock ship-boarding and inspection drills, the officials said, speaking anonymously given the sensitivity of the situation.

China’s foreign ministry urged the United States to stop supporting and encouraging “Taiwan independence” forces, and that its military exercises around Taiwan are a “necessary and legitimate move.”

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the comment in response to media reports of remarks by US Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka’s remarks, who called the drills expected but “concerning.”

China’s drills encircling Taiwan is an attempt to shock newly elected president Lai Ching-te and the island’s independence force, says Wu Xinbo, the director of the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

“This is also certainly a blow to the US,” he says as he adds that the drills are a way of showing that “the mainland is willing to increase its deterrence towards Taiwan independence forces and strengthen its capability to mould the Taiwan Strait situation in response to the domestic changes in Taiwan.”

Taiwan scrambled jets and put missile, naval and land units on alert over China’s military exercises.

China’s military said its two-day exercises around Taiwan were punishment for separatist forces seeking independence.

Beijing claims the island is part of China’s national territory and the People’s Liberation Army sends navy ships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other areas around the island almost daily to wear down Taiwan’s defences and seek to intimidate its people, who firmly back their de facto independence.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said the land, navy and air exercises around Taiwan were meant to test the navy and air capabilities of the PLA units, as well as their joint strike abilities to hit targets and win control of the battlefield, the command said on its official Weibo account.

“This is also a powerful punishment for the separatist forces seeking ‘independence’ and a serious warning to external forces for interference and provocation,” the statement said.

Taiwan’s defence ministry condemned the drills, saying that it had dispatched forces to areas around the island. The air defences and land-based missile forces are also tracking targets, it said.

“The launch of military exercises on this occasion not only does not contribute to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, it also highlights (China’s) militaristic mentality,” the ministry said.

Taiwan’s presidential office expressed regret that China was threatening the island’s democratic freedoms and regional peace and stability with its “unilateral military provocations”, but said people could rest assured Taiwan could ensure its security.

The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it had started joint military drills, involving the army, navy, air force and rocket force, in areas around Taiwan at 7.45am.

The drills are being conducted in the Taiwan Strait, the north, south and east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin, the command said in a statement.