China launches war games around Taiwan

In rare operations, China’s coast guard circled Taiwan and staged “law enforcement” patrols close to Taiwan’s offshore islands, according to Chinese state media.

Taiwan’s defence ministry and coast guard said both agencies had dispatched their own forces, while officials said Lai’s National Security Council met on Monday to discuss the situation.

National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu said China had ignored Lai’s message of goodwill.

“Using military force to threaten other countries goes against the basic spirit of the United Nations charter to peacefully resolve disputes,” he told reporters in Taipei.

Chinese state media said the rocket force carried out simulated missile launches while fighter jets “opened up air assault corridors” and bombers carried out long-range missions.

In a propaganda video, the Eastern Theatre Command showed a cartoon caricature of Lai with pointed ears like a devil and fighter jets and warships around the island, before ending with the image of a fist turning into hammer and then a sword pointed at Taiwan.

A Taiwan security source said there were no signs so far of any missile launches.

‘Blatant provocations’

Taiwan’s China policymaking Mainland Affairs Council said China’s latest war games and refusal to renounce the use of force were “blatant provocations” that seriously undermined regional peace and stability.

Taiwan’s presidential office said in a statement that China should face up to the fact of the existence the Republic of China – Taiwan’s formal name – and respect the people of Taiwan’s choice of a free and democratic way of life.

It should “refrain from military provocations that would disrupt the status quo of peace and stability in the region, and threaten Taiwan’s democratic freedoms,” the statement said.

In Washington, officials from the administration of US President Joe Biden said they were monitoring the drills and there was no justification for them after Lai’s “routine” speech.

“We call on the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to act with restraint and to avoid any further actions that may undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, which is essential to regional peace and prosperity and a matter of international concern,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, using the initials for the People’s Republic of China, China’s official name.

A senior Taiwan security official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation, said they believed China was practicing blockading Taiwanese ports to the north and south of the island and international shipping lanes, as well as repelling the arrival of foreign forces.

Taiwan’s stock exchange largely brushed off the tensions, with the benchmark index rising 0.4 per cent in late morning trade, and there was no sign of public alarm.

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Taiwan on Sunday had reported a Chinese aircraft carrier group sailing to the island’s south through the strategic Bashi Channel which separates Taiwan from the Philippines and connects the South China Sea to the Pacific.

Chinese state media has since Thursday run a series of stories and commentaries denouncing Lai’s speech, and on Sunday the Eastern Theatre Command released a video saying it was “prepared for battle”.

The PLA’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper wrote on Monday that “those who play with fire get burned!”

“As long as the ‘Taiwan independence’ provocations continue, the PLA’s actions to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity will not stop,” the paper said.

China held the “Joint Sword-2024A” drills for two days around Taiwan in May shortly after Lai took office, saying they were “punishment” for separatist content in his inauguration speech.

Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

Reuters