China is getting better at turning its military drills into real attacks fast a high-ranking Taiwan security official said. This info comes from Taipeiʼs look at why Beijing did war games near the island recently.
China thinks Taiwan which runs itself is part of its land. On 10/14/24‚ it did big drills that it said were to warn against “separatist acts“ after Taiwanʼs President Lai Ching-te gave a speech about a week before.
For roughly 5 years‚ Taiwan has been saying China does military stuff near the island almost every day. This includes at least four big war games and regular “joint combat readiness patrols“.
“They are getting better at turning exercises into fights‚“ the official said in Taipei‚ asking to stay unnamed so he could talk more openly.
Taiwan said a record 153 Chinese planes took part in the drills. The official also said 25 Chinese navy and coast guard boats (which never happened before) came close to Taiwanʼs 39-km zone.
“They came very close to Taiwan. They put more pressure on Taiwan and made Taiwanʼs response time shorter‚“ the official said. “This drill was more of a threat than ever to Taiwan“
The official said during the drill‚ China shot two missiles towards some place on land‚ but didnt give more details.
“Even though they didnt shoot missiles at Taiwan this time they did practice missile launches‚“ the official said.
Chinaʼs defense ministry didnt answer right away when asked about this. On 10/14/24‚ it said it would do more if needed against Taiwan.
Lai and his government say no to Beijingʼs claims that it owns Taiwan saying only Taiwanʼs people can choose what happens to them. Lai has tried to talk many times‚ but China has said no.
In a report to be given to parliament on 10/19/24‚ Taiwanʼs defense ministry said China now does three to four “joint combat readiness patrols“ each month around Taiwan. The ministry called this “provocation and making the threat to our military bigger“
When asked when China might do its next war games‚ Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters it could be any time and for any reason.
“This shows they want to be the boss which we can all see very clearly‚“ Koo said.
A person who knows about safety issues in the area and works in Taipei said Beijingʼs war games were a “big threat“. This is because through the drills‚ Chinaʼs military was quickly getting better at getting ready and fighting.
“They are always more and more ready - they can switch from nothing to drills to war very fast‚“ said the person‚ who asked to stay unnamed because the topic is touchy