HONG KONG (AP) — China’s military sent air, navy and rocket forces to conduct joint military exercises around the island of Taiwan on Monday, in what Beijing said was a “stern warning” against separatist and “external interference” forces. Taiwan put its military on alert and called the Chinese government “the biggest destroyer of peace”.
The exercise comes after Beijing expressed anger over US arms sales to the region and after Japanese Prime Minister Sane Takaichi said his military might be involved if China took action against Taiwan, saying the world’s second-largest economy should bring the self-governing island under its rule. But the Chinese military did not name the US and Japan in a statement on Monday morning.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a post on X that rapid response exercises are underway with forces on high alert to defend the island. In a separate statement, it said it had deployed appropriate forces in response, conducting combat readiness exercises.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s targeted military exercises further confirm its nature as an aggressor and the biggest destroyer of peace,” the ministry said.
Senior Colonel Xi Yi, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, said the training will be conducted in the north, southwest, southeast and east of the Taiwan Strait and the island.
Xi said the activities would focus on sea-air combat readiness patrols, “joint capture of broad superiority” and blockade of key ports. It was also the first large-scale military exercise where one of the goals publicly stated by the command was “all-dimensional deterrence beyond the island chain.”
“This ‘independence of Taiwan’ is a strong warning against separatist forces and external interference forces, and is a legitimate and necessary step to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” Xi said.
China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since 1949, when a civil war brought the Communist Party to power in Beijing. Defeated Nationalist Party troops fled to Taiwan. Although the mainland government claims it as a sovereign territory, the island has operated with its own government ever since.
A live firing exercise is scheduled for Tuesday
The command said it was using fighters, bombers and unmanned aerial vehicles to coordinate long-range rocket launches in the central areas of the Taiwan Strait in sea and air exercises on Monday, focusing on hitting mobile ground targets. They are intended to test the military’s ability to launch precision strikes on key targets, it said.
It also said that the major military exercises were scheduled to take place on Tuesday between 8am and 6pm, that it would then hold live firing activities and that its exercises would cover five areas around the island.
The command released thematic posters about online exercises with provocative words. One poster depicted two shields against a large wall, along with three military planes and two ships. Its social media post said the exercises were about the “Shield of Justice, Smashing Illusion” and that any foreign interviewees or separatists touching the shield would be removed.
Last week, Beijing imposed sanctions against 20 US defense-related companies and 10 executives, a week after Washington announced a massive arms sale to Taiwan worth more than $10 billion. If approved by the US Congress, it would be the largest US arms package for the autonomous region.
Under long-standing US federal law, Washington is obliged to assist Taipei in its defence, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China. The US and Taiwan had formal diplomatic relations until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter’s administration established relations with Beijing.
Taiwanese military on high alert
Monday’s exercise raised tensions on both sides. Karen Kuo, spokeswoman for the Taiwanese president’s office, said the operation undermined the stability and security of the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region and openly challenged international law and order.
“Our country strongly condemns the Chinese authorities for ignoring international norms and using military threats to intimidate neighboring countries.” she said.
Beijing sends warplanes and naval vessels toward the island on an almost daily basis, and in recent years it has increased the scope and scale of these exercises. In October, Taiwan’s government said it would accelerate the construction of the “Taiwan Shield” or “T-Dome” air defense system to counter China’s military threat.
The military tensions came a day after Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an expressed hope during a visit to Shanghai that the Taiwan Strait would be linked with peace and prosperity rather than “waves and winds of disaster”.
