China has initiated massive military exercises near and in Taiwan with the biggest fleet deployment in nearly a year. The exercises were initiated not long after the US reaffirmed commitment to dissuade Beijing from its aggressiveness in the region.
Exercises were launched by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Tuesday with forces operating from multiple directions. The army forces, naval forces, air forces, and rocket forces have been involved in the exercises, Senior Colonel Shi Yi said. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said they had identified 19 Chinese ships—the largest convoy since the same exercises were held after President Lai Ching-te took office in May last year. The ministry had also monitored movements of the Shandong aircraft carrier in recent days.
These steps run counter to the Trump administration’s changing foreign policy of confronting China in East Asia and pressurizing European nations to beef up their military in preparation to confront Russia. On recent Philippines and Japan visits, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged to deploy additional missile systems, soldiers, and military equipment to counter China with a commitment Washington will provide “credible deterrence” in the region of the Indo-Pacific and within the Taiwan Strait.
The exercises were a reaction to a Washington Post story regarding a classified U.S. document describing how the U.S. military would be used to deter China from invading Taiwan. The document signed by Hegseth has been making the rounds at the Pentagon. Bloomberg News could not independently verify the document’s contents. Since Lai’s becoming president, China has conducted several rounds of military drills near Taiwan. Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its territory to be reunified under its rule if need be and considers Lai to be an illegal separatist. Reuben Fei Lee, the Taiwan Affaires Department in Beijing responded to Lai’s initiative to check China’s aggressiveness—like trying to curb intrusion in Taiwan’s government and military organs—by stating that Lai wants to recklessly incite China. The department stated that “we will never tolerate this, and we must resolutely counteract and severely punish them.”
Interestingly enough, recent exercises have been shunned from public discourse, unlike in the past with last year’s Joint Sword A and B exercises. The change is to “build the image that they can transition from exercises to actual fighting at a moment,” described Jack Chen from advocacy group Formosa Defense Vision. The PLA conducted a live broadcast on Chinese social media for the very first time in the exercises with a news reader narrating military operations and shots that appeared to be showing Kinmen, a Taiwanese base near the Chinese coast.
These events mirror increasing tensions across the Taiwan Strait with China’s military activities both a showcase and a reaction to US pledges in the area.
