- Beijing says drills aimed at practising for “precision strikes”.
- Drills follow US pledge to ensure “credible deterrence” across Taiwan.
- China increases fighter jets, naval vessels presence around Taiwan.
China on Tuesday sent its army, navy, air and rocket forces to surround Taiwan for large-scale drills Beijing said were aimed at practising for “precision strikes” and a blockade of the self-ruled island.
Taiwan dispatched its own aircraft and ships, and deployed land-based missile systems, in response to the exercises.
The drills come after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday in Japan that the United States would ensure “credible deterrence” across the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing has increased the deployment of fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan in recent years, which Taipei opposes.
China deployed 21 warships around the island, including the Shandong aircraft carrier group, along with 71 aircraft and four coast guard vessels, Taiwan’s defence ministry said.
The number of warships was the highest since May last year when 27 navy vessels were reported, according to an AFP tally of the ministry’s daily figures.
Tensions across the 180-kilometre (112-mile) Taiwan Strait have escalated since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office in May 2024.
Tuesday’s exercises were aimed at sending a “stern warning and forceful deterrence” to separatists in Taiwan, Beijing said.
They involved “sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade on key areas and sea lanes”, said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman of the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command.
Beijing’s armed forces “close in on Taiwan Island from multiple directions”, he said.
The drills also involved training for “multi-directional precision strikes” around the island, the Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.
The Eastern Theater Command — which oversees operations along the Taiwan Strait — shared a graphic with the title “closing in”.
China’s coast guard said it also conducted “law enforcement patrols” around the island.
“Pursuing ‘Taiwan independence’ means pushing the people of Taiwan into a dangerous situation of war,” Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said.
