China is blockading Taiwan with large-scale maneuvers – and is threatening bloodshed
China holds major military exercise around Taiwan as “punishment”
A few days after Taiwan’s new president took office, China began major military exercises off the coast of the island nation. China also sees the maneuvers as “punishment for separatist actions.”
China is using drastic words to threaten Taiwanese independence supporters with bloodshed. Foreign Office spokesman Wang Wenbin called the current Chinese military exercises around Taiwan a “serious warning”.
WA few days after the inauguration of Taiwan’s new President Lai Ching-te, China used drastic words to threaten Taiwanese independence supporters with bloodshed. “The pro-independence forces will end with shattered skulls and blood” after confronting China’s “grand” plan of “complete unification” with Taiwan, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in Beijing on Thursday. He called the current Chinese military exercises around Taiwan a “serious warning.”
China had previously announced a large-scale military exercise around the East Asian island republic. “This is also a severe punishment for the separatist forces of Taiwan independence and a serious warning against interference and provocation by external forces,” said spokesman for the East Chapter of the People’s Liberation Army, Marine Colonel Li Xi, on Thursday.
China holds major military exercise
The army, navy, air force and missile forces will be holding exercises on Thursday and Friday in the strait between China and Taiwan (Taiwan Strait) – which is around 130 kilometers wide at its narrowest point – and around Taiwan. The exercise is likely to be the largest in about a year.
According to the information, the military wants to train joint combat readiness on water and in the air as well as attacks on key targets. Ships and planes would approach Taiwan from the north and south for “patrols” and would also approach several islands, such as Kinmen Island, just a few kilometers from mainland China.
Military expert Zhang Chi said on Chinese state television that China was simulating a blockade of Taiwan. The army wants to practice stopping energy imports “as a lifeline” to Taiwan, cutting off escape routes abroad for Taiwan’s politicians and preventing support from allies such as the USA. The exercise is likely to be the largest since April 2023, in which China also rehearsed a blockade.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry condemned the military exercise as an “irrational provocation” that threatened peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The armed forces on sea, on the ground and in the air were deployed to “defend freedom and democracy with practical actions,” Taipei said.
Taiwan announces it will not shy away from conflict
On Thursday, Taiwan put its troops on alert. Taiwan will not seek conflict, but will not shy away from it, it said.
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, although independent and democratically elected governments have been in power there for decades. The leadership in Beijing has threatened several times to attack the island, which has a population of more than 23 million, and the mainland. In addition to regular military exercises, fighter planes fly towards Taiwan almost daily to demonstrate the military power of the People’s Liberation Army.
The background to the exercise now announced is likely to be the inauguration of the newly elected Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Monday. His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election in January and supports Taiwan’s independence.
The warning is also likely to apply to Taiwan’s allies, particularly the United States, which has promised the island republic support in the event of a defense and regularly supplies it with weapons, much to Beijing’s annoyance.