China began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan on April 1 as a 'stern warning' against separatism and called Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a 'parasite,' as Taiwan sent warships to respond to China's navy approaching its coast.
Reuters
China launched large-scale military exercises on Tuesday around the self-ruled island of Taiwan, following weeks of rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
In a statement, Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army, said the Chinese military was staging joint drills involving army, navy, air and rocket forces closing in on Taiwan “from multiple directions.”
Mr. Shi described the exercises as a “stern warning and forceful deterrence” against those seeking formal independence from China. Taiwan has been self-ruled and de facto independent from the mainland since 1949, and an overwhelming majority of Taiwanese citizens reject the idea of being controlled by Beijing.
The Chinese war games come after weeks of sabre-rattling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Last month, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te declared China a “foreign hostile force” and accused Beijing of “infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military” among other activities.
“China’s ambition over the past several decades to annex Taiwan and stamp out the Republic of China has not changed for even a day,” Mr. Lai said. “It continues to pursue political and military intimidation, and its united front infiltration of Taiwan’s society grows ever more serious.”
He added Taipei had no choice “but to take even more proactive measures,” including by reintroducing military tribunals for cases involving active duty soldiers suspected of aiding the enemy, imposing new national security checks on those applying for Taiwan residency, and forcing Taiwanese politicians to publicly disclose any trips to China.
Beijing accused Mr. Lai of “playing with fire,” while the opposition Kuomintang, which favours greater ties with China but not annexation, said he was being needlessly provocative. Many KMT politicians visit China regularly for cultural and other exchanges, and some in the party see Mr. Lai’s move as an attempt to paint them as agents of Beijing.
Mr. Lai said 64 people had faced charges of espionage in Taiwan in 2024, almost all of them former or current members of the military, and a threefold increase on the number charged in 2021.
Whether to draw away or closer to China has long been the dividing line in Taiwanese politics, and Mr. Lai’s pro-independence Democratic People’s Party has been seeking the recall of some opposition politicians seen as pro-Beijing, to the fury of the KMT.
Mr. Lai is facing resistance in Taiwan’s legislature, where the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party hold a narrow majority, to a “special budget” announced in February that would raise defence spending to more than 3 per cent of GDP. Since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, Taipei has been facing pressure to increase its military budget, with Mr. Trump suggesting it should be as high as 10 per cent of the island’s economy.
Speaking last month, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio – a longtime China hawk who is sanctioned by Beijing – described the Taiwan situation as “very delicate.”
“Our policy is the same as it’s been, it’s very consistent,” Mr. Rubio said. “We believe that the status of Taiwan should not be changed by force or by extortion or compelled in any way.”
He said Chinese leader Xi Jinping wants the annexation of Taiwan “to be the defining crown jewel of his time in power,” adding that the U.S. would seek to “delay and deter by making the price of taking Taiwan higher than what he perceives to be the benefit.”
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, during a visit to Japan, underlined Washington’s commitment to the region, noting “America is committed to sustaining robust, ready and credible deterrence in the Indo Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait.”
“Our job at the Defence Department, with our friends and on the military side, is to build an alliance so robust that both the reality and the perception of deterrence is real and ongoing,” Mr. Hegseth said. “So that the Communist Chinese don’t take the aggressive actions that some have contemplated they will.”