Taiwan Leaders Shocked By Size Of Chinese Military Drills, US Remains Mute

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Last week we documented the launch of huge Chinese military drills encircling the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Taipei promptly blasted as an “unreasonable provocation”. China’s PLA military deployed warships and fighter jets to send yet another “stern warning” against “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces”.

Since then the size of the new PLA drills have shocked Taiwan leaders. The PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed joint operations of the army, navy, air force and rocket force.

These assets have been largely concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, as well as surrounding Taiwan and the broader South China Sea. An “astonishing” number of Chinese vessels have been deployed at a scale that “could block external forces,” Taiwan’s Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-Sheng, said at a Taiwan Defense Ministry briefing days ago.

Financial Times has observed in a fresh report that Taiwan officials are struggling with how to respond in the face of exercises unprecedented in size:

A week ago, Taiwan was bracing for a Chinese military exercise to “punish” its president, Lai Ching-te, for a trip abroad that included two short visits to the US. It would have been another show of force from Beijing in retaliation for Taiwanese leaders asserting their country’s independence.

But what happened next took Taipei by surprise. Its military and national security officials observed what they called the largest Chinese naval deployment in nearly 30 years. At the same time, Beijing announced partial restrictions on air traffic in seven zones hugging its coastline from Shanghai to Hong Kong for two days. There was not a word from the People’s Liberation Army, in contrast to the propaganda campaigns which tend to accompany its drills targeting Taipei.

Taiwan’s military has warned that these drills constitute a threat which is more serious than in the past. “No matter if they have announced drills, the level of the threat to us is severe,” Taiwan’s defense ministry has said. […]

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