On Tuesday, China organized military exercises off the North, South and East coast of Taiwan as a “severe warning” against separatism and called the Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te a “parasite”, while Taiwan sent warships to respond to the Chinese navy which was approaching its banks.
The exercises, which China did not officially appoint the war games last year, takes place after an increase in Chinese rhetoric against Lai and followed in the heels of the Asian visit of the American Secretary for Defense, Pete Hegseth, during which he criticized Pékin repeatedly.
China’s military ships have deployed ships, planes and artillery to practice blocking of the island, strikes on the ground and maritime targets, and air interception to “test the coordination of combat forces,” the command of the Oriental theater of Beijing in a press release.
This is not the first time that China has been simulating an attack or puts Taiwan under a locking. Last May, three days after the inauguration of Lai, the Chinese forces organized war games to simulate the seizure of full control of areas west of the so-called first island chain and led live shooting exercises.
China considers democratically Régi Taiwan as its own territory and hates Lai as a “separatist”. In a video accompanying his announcement as a drill, the command of the East theater called it as “parasite” in English and represented it as a green bug run by baguettes on a taiwan on fire.
The Taiwan government has condemned the exercises, the presidential office saying that China was “widely recognized by the international community as a troublemaker” and that the government has the confidence and the ability to defend itself.
The Taiwan government rejects Beijing’s assertions of sovereignty, saying that only the people of the island can decide their future.
Two senior Taiwan officials told Reuters that more than 10 Chinese military ships had approached the contiguous area of Taiwan 24 Taiwan (44 km) and Taiwan sent his own warships to answer.
Taiwan has not detected any fire living by the Chinese army, the officials said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the exercises “are legitimate and necessary actions to defend national sovereignty and protect national unity”.
“China’s reunification is an unstoppable trend – it will happen, and it must happen,” said Guo Jiakun, spokesperson, at a regular press conference on Tuesday.
Taiwan sends warships
The Taiwan Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the Shandong Chinese aircraft carrier had entered the island’s response area on Monday, adding that it had sent military planes and ships and activated terrestrial missile systems in response.
The exercises took place after Hegseth left the region following visits to Japan and the Philippines, where he criticized China and said that Japan was “essential” to tackle Chinese assault.
A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters, quoting internal assessments, that Beijing needed to avoid any “perceived confrontation” with Washington before the trade in American China, and therefore Taiwan has become a pretext.
“Taiwan is their best excuse. This is why they chose to launch these military exercises as soon as the US defense secretary left Asia,” said the official.
The de facto American embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan, said that the United States will continue to support the island.
“Again, China has shown that it is not a responsible player and has no problem endangering the security and prosperity of the region,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
‘Close in’
The Chinese army has published a series of fast succession propaganda videos after the announcement of the exercise, representing Chinese warships and fighter planes surrounding Taiwan, a taipei intended for above and a missile dam in the sky before exploding on their targets.
A video of a poster accompanying the exercises entitled “Ferming in” and showing Chinese forces surrounding the island, was published on Weibo de l’Est Theater Command.
This was followed by a video entitled “Shell”, representing President LAI as a green cartoon bug reproducing parasites through the island, on the WeChat of the East Theater Command.
“Taiwan Island parasitic poisoning. Parasite Hollowing Island Out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction,” said the animation.
The Minister of Defense of Taiwan, Wellington Koo, said that such rhetoric was not conducive to peace and “shows their provocative character”.
A third video, “Subdue Demons and Vanquish Eys”, presented Sun Wukong, the magic monkey king of the Ming dynasty “Journey to the West” as it is represented in the successful video game “Black Myth: Wukong”.
It opens onto the title of the flashing video through the mythical Chinese screen and overlapping clouds before cutting images of Chinese fighter planes.
A fourth poster, published later in the day and entitled “Enveloping Advance”, had the Chinese characters of its title covering the island and the ships and bombers positions positioned to the northwest and the Southeast.
The Taiwan Koo told journalists that the app should focus first on the resolution of its corruption problems instead of destroying peace and stability in the region.
The Chinese army has undergone a radical anti-corruption purge in recent years, which has seen the former Chinese Minister of Defense Li Shangfu ousted in October 2024.
The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comments on Koo’s remarks.
Taiwan’s security source, citing internal intelligence assessments, said China was trying to occupy its soldiers with exercises to distract and prevent its soldiers from discussing the repression of corruption on the basis.
The Chinese Coast Guard said it was also participating in the exercises, saying that it was simulating “inspection and capture, interception and detention operations against unjustified ships” to show its “legitimate jurisdiction” exercise on Taiwan.
The Global Times, which belongs to the popular daily life of the Chinese Communist Party Governant, said that the exercise had not received a code name to show that the Chinese military forces surrounding the island “has become a normal practice”, citing Zhang Chi of the University of National Defense.
“Thanks to a series of exercises organized in the Taiwan Strait in recent years, the APL has greatly improved its ability to prepare for war and fight battles,” added the article on Weixin’s social media page of the newspaper.
