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China conducted major two-day exercise after the inauguration of Taiwan’s new pro-sovereignty President Lai Ching-te
China conducted two-day exercises codenamed “Joint Sword-2024A,” beginning early on May 23 2024, in five regions encircling Taiwan. This comes just days after President Lai-Ching Te, also known as William Lai, took oath on May 20. President Lai is from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a pro-sovereignty political party that will begin its third consecutive term this year.
China’s Military Operation
The Chinese called the drills “comprehensive law enforcement operations”, which sought to engage in joint readiness, seizure and attack operations on key targets. The drills utilised the People Liberation Army (PLA), including its formidable Rocket Force and Chinese Coast Guard (CCG), in conducting precision strikes and encirclement of high value and strategically important targets. The drill also saw the participation of a large number of maritime vessels like destroyers, frigates, and missile speedboats. No aircraft carriers were reported.
Image Source – Focus Taiwan
More than 30 Chinese aircraft, which included Su-30 fighters, J-16 & J-02 fighter jets and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the Median Line into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ). The Median Line, which is an informal demarcation point in the Taiwan Strait that Beijing does not recognise but, until recent years, had been largely respected.
Why did the exercise happen?
This exercise saw increased participation of naval vessels compared to the previous drills after then-speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit in 2022 and ex-President Tsai Ing-wen’s transit in 2023.
The drills were in response to President Lai’s inaugural speech in which he called on China to “stop threatening Taiwan” and stated explicitly that in their constitution “, The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other”.
China has continuously rebuffed attempts made by President Lai for dialogue and has labelled him as a separatist and troublemaker and his running mate Bi-khim Hsiao as a die-hard Taiwan independence separatist.
In recent years, China has used massive military drills to express its displeasure with events that it believes do not correspond to its One-China policy, which claims Taiwan as an inalienable part of China under the Chinese government in Beijing.
Image Source – ANI
Domestic and International Response
Speaking at a meeting, President Lai called on China to “share the heavy responsibility of regional stability with Taiwan”, according to comments provided by his party. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense released a statement condemning China’s drills as irrational provocations and activities that jeopardize regional peace and security.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson said, “There’s no surprise. Whenever there’s an action that highlights Taiwan in the international sphere, the Chinese feel compelled to make some statements,”. Michael McCaul, chair of the U.S. House Affairs Committee, said that these drills show that the mainland is “not interested in taking China by peaceful means”.
The Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement saying it is concerned and condemns military exercises carried out by the PRC. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz, in a post on X, said that Pakistan adheres to the One China policy and considers Taiwan as an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China and supports the Chinese government’s efforts toward national reunification. Prime Minister Shehbaz stressed that the alleged elections or changeover of the self-proclaimed administration in Taiwan do not change the objective facts on the Taiwan issue.
Image Source – The Guardian
Who is the new President of Taiwan?
President Lai served as ex-President Tsai Ing-wen’s vice-president, is a member of the ruling party Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and is currently serving as its chairperson. Coming from a working-class mining family, he was Mayor of Tainan from 2010 to 2017 and Taiwan’s premier from 2017 to 2019. After Shinzo Abe’s death, he became the senior most official of the Taiwanese government to visit Japan in five decades. Historically an ardent advocate for Taiwanese independence, he has gradually toned down his rhetoric pushing instead for dialogue.
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