China, which views democratic Taiwan as its territory, describes Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te as a "separatist" and the Chinese military routinely operates around the island.
Last week, in his National Day speech, Lai Ching-te said that the People's Republic of China had no right to represent Taiwan, but that the island was willing to work with Beijing to combat challenges such as climate change, maintaining a firm tone but conciliatory.
Beijing didn't seem to like that.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said in a statement that a Chinese naval group led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning had entered the waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea to the Pacific and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. He said the group was expected to enter the Western Pacific.
China on Monday launched military maneuvers with planes and ships around Taiwan, which, in turn, assured that it had deployed "appropriate forces" to respond, AFP comments.
These exercises, called Joint Sword-2024B, aim to "test the joint operational capabilities" of the troops, the Chinese Ministry of Defense announced on Monday morning.
Security sources in Taiwan had said before Lai's speech that his speech could trigger new Chinese military exercises.
The maneuvers "focus on training patrols for sea-air combat, blockade of ports and key areas", "assault on sea and land targets", as well as "jointly achieving global superiority", added Li Xi, bearing word from the Eastern Command of the Chinese Army.
Taiwan immediately announced military exercises
Taiwan announced on Monday that it had "deployed appropriate forces" in response to China's launch of military encirclement maneuvers mobilizing aircraft and ships.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense today announced, possibly in response, three major joint exercises to be held from late October to early November aimed at strengthening the island's defense capabilities, Taiwan News reported.
The Sixth Army Corps will oversee the exercises, which will be larger in scale than in previous years. The exercises will run 24 hours a day, including night operations, to simulate real-world scenarios and assess combat readiness.
Moreover, the Hai Chiang naval exercise, which is scheduled for late October to early November, will simulate defensive and offensive scenarios in the event of a Chinese invasion, with a focus on anti-ship operations.
The Tianlong Air Force exercise will take place from October 28 to November 1 and will include air-to-air, air-to-sea and air-to-ground combat exercises.
China's military remains in the region
Earlier today, the People's Liberation Army of China's Eastern Command, which is responsible for the area that includes Taiwan, posted a video on social media titled "fully prepared and eager for time before battle." They showed fighter jets and warships operating together, mobile missile launchers and amphibious assault vehicles, with a small map of Taiwan included in the message.
China has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Chinese media carried several comments and stories from Lai's speech on Thursday, denouncing the content as "confrontational" and harmful. Some comments on Chinese social media under footage of the "battle preparations" called for "Taiwan to return to the motherland" and described the event as "national reunification".
However, another source in Taiwan's security establishment, familiar with intelligence assessments, said China was avoiding creating a crisis in Taiwan ahead of the US election.
The US has had a military defense agreement with Taiwan since 1954. But that was a time when the Chinese army and navy were much weaker than today.
The US now maintains a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on the question of whether it will defend Taiwan militarily, that is, it does not want to say explicitly whether it will come to the rescue by force or only by supplying weapons.
Most countries, even Western ones, do not maintain official diplomatic ties with Taiwan. In early 2022, Lithuania was one of the few countries to open an embassy of Taiwan on its territory. This was followed by a harsh trade sanction and a diplomatic response from China.
