China Orders Military Drills Near Taiwan as ‘Warning’ to Lai

Yian Lee
5-min read

(Bloomberg) -- China’s armed forces held drills off Taiwan that they said were intended as a warning to halt “separatist acts” — a move coming just after the archipelago’s president vowed to stand up to challenges from Beijing.

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The exercises on Monday involved army, navy, air and missile forces, a spokesperson for the Chinese military said in a statement on social media, adding the drills were “a stern warning” to those pursuing independence. China said early in the evening that the drills ended.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry condemned Beijing’s actions, saying in a statement that it dispatched forces to respond, without providing details. The office of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said he convened meetings with national security officials to discuss the best response to the day’s events.

The exercises underscore China’s persistent efforts to place strain on the government of Lai, who it views as pushing to formalize the democracy’s independence. Beijing named these drills “Joint Sword-2024B,” following on from the “2024A” version held right after Lai’s inauguration in May.

As usual, Taiwan investors brushed off the display of force. The benchmark Taiex gauge closed 0.3% higher, in line with the rest of the region. The local currency was little changed at 32.17 versus the greenback.

Lai said in his speech last week that he would work to “resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty.” China views Taiwan as territory that must be brought under its control eventually and hit back after the remarks, with a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman saying that Lai “is hell-bent on Taiwan independence.”

“Clearly, Beijing has more distrust of Lai than of his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen,” said Chieh Chung, assistant professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Tamkang University in Taipei. “In Beijing’s eyes, Lai’s rhetoric since taking office has been more vivid and provocative compared to Tsai’s.”

The State Department said in a statement that the US “is seriously concerned” about the drills. China’s “response with military provocations to a routine annual speech is unwarranted and risks escalation,” it said.

The US called on Beijing “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,” adding that Washington and its allies were monitoring China’s activities.

The US backs Taiwan with arms sales that irk Beijing, and also politically and economically. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that the US would defend the chipmaking hub from a Chinese attack, though he’s also said he doesn’t support independence for Taiwan.

Like exercises two years ago after then House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, the People’s Liberation Army appeared to be practicing encircling Taiwan — a hub for advanced semiconductors that sits next to one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. The repeated, intense activities seem aimed at wearing out Taiwan’s smaller military, much like the near-daily incursions by PLA warplanes and ships into the archipelago’s sensitive areas.

A record 90 Chinese warplanes crossed a line in the middle of the Taiwan Strait on Monday, an official in the Defense Ministry in Taipei said at a briefing, and the archipelago experienced a surge in cyberattacks.

China said the Liaoning, a refitted Soviet-era vessel that became the nation’s first aircraft carrier, participated in the exercises. The drills practiced a “blockade on key ports and areas,” according to the Chinese military spokesman — the first time the PLA has mentioned that.

China’s Coast Guard also said that its vessels carried out patrols around Taiwan’s main island — another first, according to local media reports in Taiwan. Beijing’s Coast Guard is the biggest in the world and defies international norms by acting as an arm of the military.

China’s pressure tactics on Lai since he won election in January have included peeling off one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies, ordering increased Coast Guard activity around Taiwanese islets and ending tariff exemptions on some agricultural products from the democracy of 23 million people.

Beijing said on Saturday it was studying “adopting further measures” against Taiwan for banning certain Chinese shipments. Taiwan responded by saying China was using cross-strait trade as a political weapon.

Also on Monday, China barred Robert Tsao, founder and former chairman of United Microelectronics Corp., and Taiwanese lawmaker Puma Shen from entering the country. Both have played key roles in trying to bolster the archipelago’s network of civilian defenses.

Tsao no longer has a stake in UMC, which has manufacturing operations in China. Beijing has stepped up use of sanctions against people in Taiwan who it believes spearhead “separatist” activities, such as current Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim. Last month, it jailed a Taiwanese political activist for separatism for the first time.

Lai also said in his speech he hoped to work with China on a range of issues, including climate change, though Beijing is very unlikely to accept. It cut high-level communication with Tsai early in her tenure because she refused to acknowledge Taiwan was part of China, and those links largely remain severed.

Both Lai, a former vice president, and Tsai are members of the Democratic Progressive Party that Beijing castigates as “separatist.”

Tsai worked to expand ties with other democracies during her eight years in office to counter China’s drive to isolate Taiwan diplomatically. In a sign she intends to continue that push as a former president, she’s traveling to Europe this week, including a stop at the European Parliament in Brussels.

The UK asked that her visit to London be postponed to avoid displeasing China, the Guardian has reported. The UK Foreign Office made the request ahead of Foreign Secretary David Lammy visiting Beijing next week, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

--With assistance from Jing Li, Debby Wu, Chien-Hua Wan and Qianwei Zhang.

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