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In a warning, China's military surrounded Taiwan during a military exercise on Monday, demonstrating its ability to blockade key ports, execute strikes, and assault positions.
The drill, a follow-up to a massive exercise earlier this year, included warplanes and naval and coast guard vessels. Among the naval assets was China's first aircraft carrier.
China's military, the People's Liberation Army, announced the "Joint Sword-2024B" exercises on Monday morning, with its Eastern Theater Command dispatching troops to conduct joint military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan and its outlying islands.
Chinese military media, citing a Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson of the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command, said that Chinese troops from different service branches engaged in joint drills "focusing on subjects of sea-air combat-readiness patrol, blockade on key ports and areas, assault on maritime and ground targets, as well as joint seizure of comprehensive superiority."
The aim, reports said, was to "test the joint operations capabilities of the theater command's troops." Li also said that the "drill also serves as a stern warning" to Taiwan.
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The drills came a few days after Taiwan's National Day celebrations and were, per China, aimed at "resolutely" foiling the "'Taiwan Independence' separatist attempts."
Taiwan "strongly" condemned the exercises, calling them "irrational and provocative." Its forces mobilized to monitor the exercise.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense reported that between Sunday morning and Monday morning that 25 PLA aircraft, seven PLA Navy vessels, and four other ships were detected operating around Taiwan; 16 aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
On Monday, per a map from the Ministry of Defense, a total of 72 aircraft were tracked, with 57 entering the ADIZ, a record single-day total of such incursions. 125 sorties were conducted, Taiwan said, with 90 occurring in the ADIZ. The numbers indicate that participating aircraft flew multiple sorties.
By Monday evening, about 12 hours after "Joint Sword-2024B" began, China announced the exercise had concluded.
Of the naval vessels involved, China highlighted its CNS Liaoning aircraft carrier task group, saying it tested "vessel-aircraft coordination, joint air suppression, and fire strikes on sea and ground targets." The Liaoning was notably docked with China's only other operational carrier at Sanya Naval Base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea last week. Chinese media shared footage of the ship launching its J-15 fighter jets.
Maps shared by analysts and the Ministry of Defense showed that the Chinese navy and the coast guard effectively surrounded the main island of Taiwan, simulating blocking off key ports and areas. During the drills, the Liaoning was operating off the island's southeastern coast while aircraft flew sorties on the outskirts of Taiwan's airspace.
An animation shared by the PLA showed how the exercise areas differed from a drill in 2022 as well as "Joint Sword-2024A," which occurred earlier this year after the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has repeatedly referred to as a "separatist."
The first half of the "Joint Sword" exercise occurred in May and was a noticeably large event that was intended to send an unmistakable message to Taiwan about China's military capabilities and continued readiness to use force against the island democracy. Beijing perceives Taiwan as its sovereign territory and has not ruled out using its growing military might to achieve unification.
While China has previously conducted large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, the growing number of military assets involved in these large-scale drills and the frequency, as well as the near-daily provocations, suggest Beijing is attempting to normalize its presence in the area, intimidate the Taiwanese people, and exhaust Taipei's military and resources.
In response to the Chinese military drills, Lai posted on X that China aimed "to undermine stability and the status quo, failing to live up to global expectations." While Taiwan remains "open to cross-Strait dialogue and exchanges," he said, it is "determined to protect our free and democratic constitutional system."
