TAIPEI, Taiwan — Observations indicate that China’s military is engaging in activity near Taiwan, though it remains uncertain if this constitutes an official military exercise.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that over the past day, it had tracked around a dozen Chinese naval vessels and 47 military aircraft, but unlike previous exercises, there was no evidence of live-fire operations. This time, the Chinese deployment spans a wider region, with additional vessels moving further into the Pacific Ocean beyond Taiwan, according to remarks made during a defense press conference.
Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-sheng characterized China’s navy’s actions as constructing two concentric layers of defense—one at the edge of Taiwan and another beyond the first island chain that stretches from Japan down to the Philippines. He stressed that the clear message from these activities is: “The Taiwan Strait is ours,” a reference to the waters that separate Taiwan from China.
Anticipation for potential military drills has heightened among Taiwan’s defense forces, especially following Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s overseas trip to the United States territories of Hawaii and Guam.
Beijing asserts its claim over Taiwan as part of its territory and disapproves of the self-ruled island engaging in official relations with other nations, especially the U.S. While in Guam, Lai had discussions with U.S. congressional leaders over the phone. Although the U.S., along with most countries, does not officially acknowledge Taiwan as an independent nation, it is the primary provider of military supplies to the island’s 23 million inhabitants to bolster its defense capabilities.
In the absence of any public declarations from China regarding military drills, officials in Taiwan have categorized the ongoing activities as training exercises. Hsieh mentioned that while these are in a state of regular training, they have the potential to escalate into drills or even conflict. “It’s in the status of regular training,” he explained. “But under the status of normalized training, we can mobilize military forces on such a grand scale and conduct exercises across such vast areas.”
China, which perceives Lai as a proponent of separatism, launched significant military drills around Taiwan after his inauguration in May, as well as following his National Day address in October. A major exercise also took place after the 2022 visit of then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
In response to the uptick in Chinese naval activities, Taiwan’s military established an emergency response center on Monday in light of flight restrictions that have been enforced in seven zones along China’s eastern coast, which are expected to remain in effect until Wednesday.
“We have observed that there are no live-fire drill activities occurring in the seven exercise areas as previously scheduled,” remarked Hsieh, who oversees the intelligence office for the deputy chief of general staff.
