Chinese land, sea, air, and rocket forces held massive joint military exercises around Taiwan on Monday. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said these intimidating drills were meant as a “stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces.”
To drive that point home, the exercise was dubbed “Joint Sword-2024B” by the Chinese military. Joint Sword-2024A was the show of force China mounted after President William Lai Ching-te was inaugurated in May.
The PLA insisted the display of military might was a “legitimate and necessary operation for safeguarding state sovereignty and national unity.”
Beijing’s latest tantrum was apparently sparked by Lai’s National Day speech in Taipei on Thursday. Lai said during the speech that he would “uphold the commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty.”
Lai couched this statement of defiance in the gentlest terms possible, saying he would also preserve the “status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and work with Beijing on matters of mutual interest, such as climate change and infectious diseases.
Lai was nevertheless firm on preserving the autonomy of his government, the Republic of China (ROC). His speech included an observation that invariably enrages Beijing: Taiwanese National Day is the anniversary of the ROC’s founding in 1911, while the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was not founded until 1949, so the younger communist government cannot logically claim to be the “motherland” of Taiwan.
“The Republic of China may actually be the motherland of citizens of the People’s Republic of China who are over 75 years old,” Lai pointed out.
“The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinates to each other. On this land, democracy and freedom are thriving. The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said.
For good measure, Lai suggested that if the PRC really wants to invade someone to restore China’s “territorial integrity,” it ought to fight Russia to reclaim the Manchurian territory given away in the humiliating 1858 Treaty of Aigun.
That was too much for Beijing, which regarded Lai’s predecessor Tsai Ing-wen as a dangerous “separatist” and thinks Lai is even worse.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry slammed Lai as “intransigent” after his National Day speech, and accused him of a “sinister intention to escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait in order to seek political gains.”
“No matter what the Lai Ching-te Administration says or does, it will not be able to change the objective fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same China, nor will it be able to stop the historical trend that China is bound to be reunified, and will be reunified eventually,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning growled.
China’s state-run Global Times made no pretense that Operation Joint Sword-2024B was anything but an effort to bully Taiwan, quoting PLA Eastern Theater Command spokesman Li Xi’s description of exercises that would simulate air combat, naval engagements, a blockade of Taiwan’s ports, and amphibious invasions of key Taiwanese ground targets.
“This exercise serves as a firm response to Lai Ching-te’s continued fabrication of ‘Taiwan independence’ fallacies and his propagation of separatist agendas,” huffed Chen Binhua of Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
“We are willing, with utmost sincerity and effort, to strive for peaceful reunification. However, we do not promise to renounce the use of force, and we will not leave even the slightest space for Taiwan independence,” said Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Senior Col. Wu Qian.
The Chinese exercises involved the Liaoning aircraft carrier group, which was sighted south of Taiwan by Taiwanese defense forces.
“China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier group has entered waters near the Bashi Channel and is likely to proceed into the western Pacific,” the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Sunday. The Bashi Channel separates Taiwan from the Philippines.
“ROC armed forces monitored the situation and responded accordingly,” the Defense Ministry said.
“The Taiwanese military is employing joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems to closely monitor related activities and remains on alert, prepared to respond as necessary,” the statement added.
China currently has three aircraft carriers, of which the Liaoning is the oldest and least powerful, a refurbished Russian ship purchased from Ukraine by a Chinese tourism company in the late 1990s. The Liaoning was originally used for technology tests and training, but lately China has been putting it front and center during intimidating military drills and shows of force in the Taiwan Strait, possibly to keep the spotlight away from its more advanced sister ships.
China’s second carrier, the Shandong, is a domestically-built ship that is currently operational. Liaoning and the larger Shandong were docked at the same South China Sea base during the last week of September, providing a rare opportunity for side-by-side comparisons through satellite photos.
The third carrier, the Fujian, is more worrisome to naval analysts, as it appears to be far more advanced than Shandong, and might even be competitive with Western carriers. Among other improvements, it has electromagnetic catapults for launching planes, as modern U.S. carriers do. Liaoning and Shandong launch planes with a “ski slope” ramp on the bow, which is much slower and riskier than catapult launching.
The Fujian is currently undergoing its fourth round of sea trials. Each trial voyage has lasted for longer than the one before it, suggesting the trials are going well and the carrier could soon be operational.
