Taiwan has warned that Chinese military exercises are not just a rehearsal for an invasion of the autonomous island, but also reflect ambitions to control large areas of the western Pacific.
The warning came as Taipei held its own drills on Tuesday to underscore its readiness to defend itself.
Angered by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, China has sent military ships and aircraft across the median line separating the two sides in the Taiwan Strait and fired missiles in the waters surrounding the island. Pingtung Township, southern Taiwan, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported that Taiwan’s military will conduct live-fire artillery drills in southern Pingtung County on Tuesday and on Thursday, in response to the Chinese exercises. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai) (AP)
Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, said that beyond the goal of annexing the island democracy, which was split with the mainland amid civil war in 1949, China wants to establish its dominance in the western Pacific.
That would include controlling the East and South China Seas across the Taiwan Strait and imposing a blockade to prevent the US and its allies from aiding Taiwan in the event of an attack, he said at a press conference in Taipei.
The drills show China’s “geostrategic ambition beyond Taiwan,” which Beijing claims as its own territory, Wu said.
“China has no right to interfere or disrupt” Taiwan’s democracy or its interactions with other nations, he added.
In this photo released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu speaks during a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Wu said Tuesday that China aims to control the East and South China Seas. across the Taiwan Strait, outlining a greater ambition to upend the Asian status quo and prevent nations from aiding the self-ruled island. (Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP) (AP)
Wu’s assessment of China’s maneuvers was more severe than that of other observers, but echoed widespread concern that Beijing is seeking to expand its influence in the Pacific, where the United States has military bases and broad treaty associations.
China has said its exercises were prompted by Pelosi’s visit, but Wu said Beijing was using her trip as a pretext for long-overdue intimidation moves.
Pelosi also dismissed China’s outrage as a public stunt, noting on NBC’s Today show that “no one said a word” about the visit by a Senate delegation a few months ago.
Later, on the MSNBC news network, he said that Chinese President Xi Jinping was acting like a “scared thug.”
“I don’t think the president of China should control the schedules of members of Congress,” he said.
Taiwan’s military conducts artillery drills in Fangshan Township, Pingtung, southern Taiwan on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai) (AP)
Through its maneuvering, China has moved closer to Taiwan’s borders and may be seeking to establish a new normal in which it could eventually control access to the island’s ports and airspace.
But that would likely provoke a strong response from the island’s military, whose people strongly favor the status quo of de facto independence.
The US, Taipei’s main backer, has also been willing to counter Beijing’s threats.
Washington does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in deference to Beijing, but is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself and treat all threats against it as matters of grave concern.
That leaves open the question of whether Washington would send forces if China attacked Taiwan.
U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the U.S. is bound to do so, but staff members have been quick to push back on those comments.
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Beyond geopolitical risks, a protracted crisis in the Taiwan Strait, an important route for global trade, could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruption and uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the war. in Ukraine
In particular, Taiwan is a crucial supplier of computer chips to the global economy, including China’s high-tech sectors.
In response to the drills, Taiwan has put its forces on alert, but has so far refrained from taking active response measures.
On Tuesday, its military conducted live-fire artillery drills in Pingtung County on its southeast coast.
The military will continue to train and build up strength to deal with the threat from China, said Major General Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for Taiwan’s 8th Army Command.
“Whatever the situation … this is the best way to defend our country,” he said.
China launched military exercises near Taiwan last week following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The areas marked in red show where the initial exercises of the People’s Liberation Army took place. (CNN)
Taiwan, once a Japanese colony, had only loose connections with Imperial China and then split with the mainland in 1949. Despite never having ruled the island, the Communist Party of China considers it its own territory and has tried to isolate it diplomatically and economically in addition to increasing military threats.
Washington has insisted that Pelosi’s visit did not change its “one China policy”, which maintains that the US has no position on the status of the two sides but wants their dispute to be resolved peacefully .