China has begun its second day of military drills targeting Taiwan, in what it says is punishment for âseparatist actsâ after the inauguration of its new president on Monday.
The exercises, which involve Chinese military units from the air force, rocket force, navy, army, and coast guard, were announced suddenly on Thursday morning, with maps showing five approximate target areas in the sea surrounding Taiwanâs main island. Other areas also targeted Taiwanâs offshore islands, which are close to the Chinese mainland.
Chinaâs defence ministry said the drills on Friday were testing its militaryâs ability to âseize powerâ and occupy key areas, in line with Beijingâs ultimate goal of annexing Taiwan. Taiwanâs government and people reject the prospect of Chinese rule, but Chinaâs ruler Xi Jinping has not renounced the use of force to take the island. Western intelligence has claimed Xi has told the Peopleâs Liberation Army to be capable of an invasion by 2027.
On Thursday afternoon the PLA said fighter jets carrying live missiles had successfully carried out âmock strikesâ on Taiwanese military targets, but so far the drills are smaller in scale than those held in 2022 and 2023. Beijing did not declare any no-fly zones, and no live fire was used except in practice areas on the Chinese mainland, according to Taiwanâs military.
The ministry said China sent 19 warships around Taiwanâs perimeter, 16 marine police vessels and 49 warplanes, of which 35 crossed the median line, the de facto border between China and Taiwan.
In response, Taiwan scrambled jets, put its forces on alert, and moved anti-ship missile systems to coastal areas.
From a military base in Taoyuan on Thursday, Taiwanâs new president Lai Ching-te said he had confidence in the military to protect Taiwan.
Chinaâs official state news agency Xinhua said on Friday the drills were âlegitimate, timely and entirely necessary, as âTaiwan independenceâ acts in any form cannot be toleratedâ.
Lai was inaugurated as Taiwanâs president on Monday, after winning democratic elections in January. Lai and his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, are from the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party (DPP), which Beijing considers separatist.
In his inauguration speech Lai affirmed Taiwanâs sovereignty, promised to defend it, and urged China to end hostilities. Any speech by a president belonging to the DPP, short of capitulating to Beijingâs position that Taiwan belongs to China, was likely to provoke an angry response.
A Xinhua editorial said his speech was a âserious provocationâ and Chinaâs countermeasures were âinevitableâ.
âLai has deliberately incited hatred toward the mainland and escalated confrontation and hostility across the Strait,â it said.
In an editorial, the official newspaper of Chinaâs ruling Communist party, the Peopleâs Daily, said it was a shared belief among Chinese people that the territory of the nation cannot be divided, the country cannot be thrown into chaos and its people cannot be separated.
A conflict over Taiwan would be catastrophic, and likely involve other countries in the region, and beyond. In response to the drills, representatives from Japan, the US, South Korea, and Australia called for calm. Australiaâs foreign minister, Penny Wong, warned that âthe risk of an accident, and potential escalation, is growingâ.