China holds military drills around Taiwan as 'punishment' days after new president takes over

Within days of Lai Ching-te taking over as the President of Taiwan, China has launched military drills around the self-ruled island nation as a punishment.

China dubbed the drills as a “strong punishment” for what it called were “separatist acts” of Taiwan.

Lai, the new Taiwanese president, is openly loathed by Beijing for his previous assertion of Taiwan’s independence. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province is committed to the island’s reunification with the Chinese mainland. It has not ruled out the use of force for the reunification.

Taiwan has called Chinese military drills around the self-ruled island as “regrettable” and said it threatens Taiwan’s democracy and freedom. The United States has also dubbed the drills as “concerning”.

12 ships, 1 aircraft spotted around island, says Taiwan

In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said 12 Chinese ships and one aircraft were spotted around the self-ruled island.

The MND further said that it condemned the drills and added it was confident of safeguarding the island’s security.

“We stand ready with firm will and restraint. We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one. We have the confidence to safeguard our national security,” said the MND in a statement.

https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1793451213771637073

Separately, the Taiwanese presidency denounced the drills as “regrettable”.

“It is regrettable to see China using unilateral, provocative military behaviour that threatens Taiwan’s democracy and freedom as well as regional peace and stability. In the face of external challenges and threats, we will continue to defend democracy,” said presidential spokeswoman Karen Kuo in a statement.

The Chinese drills come two days after Taiwanese President Lai’s inauguration speech that Beijing denounced as a “confession of independence”. Previously, China has previously branded Lai a “dangerous separatist” who would bring “war and decline” to Taiwan. Before presidential election in January, Beijing had called Lai “secessionist” and “confrontational”. It called upon the Taiwanese people to make the “right choice” in the polls and warned that Lai would take them on the “evil path of provoking independence”.

Drills a powerful disciplinary action, says China

The Chinese military drills around Taiwan began at 7:45 am on Wednesday, according to the People’ Liberation Army (PL

PLA Eastern Theater Command Naval Colonel Li Xi said the drills are “a powerful disciplinary action” against Taiwanese separatism, as per AFP.

Li said the drills serve as a “strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces”.

For weeks, it was expected that China would launch military exercise around the time of Lai’s inauguration in a show of force and as a pressure tactic.

The last time China launched similar drills was in 2023 when Lai, then the Vice President of Taiwan, visited the United States as a stopover in his visit to Paraguay. Before that, the Chinese launched drills in 2022 when US House of Representative Nancy Pelosi had visited Taiwan.