After Taiwan’s vice president visited the US, China launches drills to warn Taiwan

Days after the island’s vice president visited the US, the Chinese military began conducting exercises surrounding Taiwan as a “stern warning” against what it dubbed cooperation between “separatists and foreign forces,” according to the defense ministry.

In order to strengthen ties with his government’s last South American diplomatic partner, Paraguay, Taiwanese Vice President William Lai recently traveled there, stopping in San Francisco and New York City along the way. The governing Communist Party on the mainland asserts that democratic Taiwan is a part of its territory and that it has no authority to manage international ties.

A short statement from a representative for China’s Eastern Theater Command said that the military drills tested the capabilities of ships and aircraft to coordinate and take control of air and seaspace.

Shi Yi said that it was also a test of the army’ “actual combat capabilities.” He noted that the exercises served as a warning against potential provocations from both domestic and international actors.

The leadership posted video of the maneuvers online, which included footage of troops sprinting as well as military aircraft and boats.

According to state-run television station CCTV, the exercise included fighter planes and boats with missile systems, and the units cooperated to replicate Taiwan’s surroundings.

The “irrational, provocative moves” were sharply criticised by Taiwan’s military minister in a statement. In response to the exercises, it promised to send out the proper troops and take steps to “safeguard freedom and democracy.”

It said that its soldiers had “the ability, determination, and confidence to safeguard national security” and that they will be ready to respond to any threats from the Chinese army.

It said that the Chinese military exercises displayed a militaristic attitude and shared a video of past military exercises on Facebook.

After a civil war that left the mainland under the power of the governing Communist Party, Taiwan and China divided in 1949. Taiwan has never been a part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing views it as a province that broke away and should, if necessary, be retaken by force.

An anonymous official in China’s Taiwan Work Office was quoted on Saturday by the country’s official news agency as strongly condemning what they claimed additional collaboration between Taiwan’s governing Democratic Progressive Party and the United States and calling it a “new provocative move.”

The official cited Lai’s stops in the United States, an interview he gave to the news organization Bloomberg, and his encounter with American authorities in Paraguay, according to the story. The representative said Lai had spoken in favor of “Taiwan independence” during the interview.

The official called Lai a “troublemaker who will push Taiwan to the dangerous brink of war” and said that Lai had sold out Taiwan’s interests during his stops in the United States in order to gain advantage in the island’s election.

Lai is the nominee for his party in the January 2024 presidential election.