China held military practices around Taiwan on the second day on Wednesday, calling warships and fighter jets near the island that it said were warnings to Chinese president Leichete, “foreign hostile forces.”
The second day of the movement will focus on the Chinese military’s ability to control and block the sea and air in Senior S. Yi, a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Regional Command, which oversees Taiwan. Colonel Shi also said in the East China Sea (far from Taiwan), Chinese forces held long-distance strikes in which they earned a living “simulated targets of major ports and energy facilities.”
Chinese officials said the military force exhibit was prompted by a speech given by Lai on March 13, laying out 17 measures that called China “a foreign hostile force” and said it would fight China’s subversion and deepen spying in Taiwan. They included restoring the military court to hear cases against military personnel accused of spying.
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense tallyed Chinese military weapons that had approached Taiwan by the early afternoon on the first day of the exercise: 71 sorties by military aircraft, including drones, and 21 naval ships distanced around the island.
Neither Chinese ships or planes crossed the 24 nautical miles boundary around Taiwan, provincial officials told reporters on Tuesday. The Chinese Coast Guard also announced that it had sent the ship to a “law enforcement” patrol over two groups of the island managed by Taiwan.
Beijing claims Taiwan is its territory, and officials describe Lai as an independence activist who fundamentally opposes their goals.
Major General Meng Xiangqing, a Chinese military scholar who is often a spokesman, said the exercise was intended to warn Taiwan of the risks and costs of actual lockdowns.
“The joint blockade can use our big weapons to stop Taiwan’s independence separatists from fleeing and prevent external support,” he said in a video on China’s leading military news website. “If Taiwan loses its sea supply line, its domestic resources will soon be exhausted and its social order will fall into chaos.”
However, despite Beijing’s fiery language and considerable military display, experts said the exercise appears to be intended to intimidate Taiwan without leading to wider conflict. Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party have denied that Taiwan is part of China – a key premise in Beijing’s claim that the island is its territory, and Beijing officials have already denounced Lai’s recent speech. On Tuesday, Chinese media released a comic about Lai as a parasite.
“We are trying to get closer to Taiwan to put more psychological pressure on us,” said Sutsu Yuna, another researcher at the National Defense Institute, about China’s latest exercise.
Beijing has linked the exercise to Lai’s comments, but Su and other experts said that China’s leaders also appear to have sent an unspoken message to the Trump administration. Mr. Lai has tried to maintain US support for Taiwan during President Trump’s term. This includes committing to raising military spending to more than 3% of the island’s economic output this year.
“The propaganda about the movement may also have the US in mind. They want to persuade the Trump administration that Lai is a troublemaker and prevent the US from maintaining high levels of support for Taiwan,” said Amanda Fuciao, an analyst with the Eurasian group, which monitors China’s foreign policy and China-Taiwan tensions.
The exercise comes days after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses visited Tokyo to discuss strengthening military ties with Japan. Hegses said the Trump administration will focus on countering China’s power, including efforts to narrow Taiwan down.
“The United States is committed to maintaining a robust, prepared and reliable deterrent in the Indo-Pacific, including the entire Taiwan Strait,” Hegses said at a press conference with Japan’s Defence Minister Nakatani. Hegseth also issued internal guidelines to the Pentagon, which says US troops must deter China from attempting to seize Taiwan by the military, the Washington Post reported.
Still, China may not have an appetite for an expanded military exercise that can now deepen the division between the Trump administration and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. XI has already fought Trump over US additional charges for Chinese goods imposed last month. The official Chinese statement on the latest exercise did not mention the US.
“China is definitely interested in not showing weakness,” said Wen Tee Sung, a Taiwanese researcher and non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s global Chinese hub, about XI’s approach to the Trump administration. “But China will respond with stiffness enough to make sure there is still an off-ramp for it.”
