China’s coercion campaign aims to strangle Taiwan

China flexed its military muscles on Monday by encircling Taiwan as part of its “Joint Sword 2024” operations. It came just days after the democratic island’s President Lai Ching-te warned to “resist annexation” by Beijing in a National Day address.

The Navy and Air Force wings of the People’s Liberation Army conducted “sea-air combat-readiness patrols.” Exercises were also rolled out to “block key ports,” China’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.

“The scope of deterrence has expanded, moving closer to Taiwan,” Professor Zhang Chi, of the PLA National Defense University, told the official state-run CCTV broadcaster.

“The more the separatist forces dare to provoke, the further the PLA will advance. The closer the separatists align with external forces, the tighter the chain of Taiwan’s blockade will become,” he said.

Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same China.

Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry

Independent state or rogue province?

• The Communist Party of China considers Taiwan a “rogue province.”
• Yet it has never ruled the island, making “reunification” a myth.
• It also has no democratic mandate from the citizens of Taiwan. 
• It does not even have a mandate at home or from overseas Chinese. 
• In short, invading Taiwan would be an unprovoked act of aggression. 

Delve deeper: China’s saber-rattling has grown louder as the world’s second-largest economy suffers a crisis of confidence. Discontent among China’s disaffected Gen Z or Zoomers is causing sleepless nights inside the authoritarian CCP.

Between the lines: In response, rampant Party nationalism and “red lines” have replaced reason, judging by the latest briefing from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

What was said: “No matter what they say or do, the Lai Ching-te authorities cannot change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China,” spokesperson Mao Ning stressed, referring to a China ruled by the unelected CCP.

Big picture: Taipei has a different view. “On this land, democracy and freedom are thriving. The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” President Lai said during his National Day address, adding that both were “not subordinate to each other.”

China Factor comment: Washington has made it clear that President Xi Jinping’s regime needs to “act with restraint and avoid any further actions that may undermine peace [in] the Taiwan Strait.” But it appears no one in Beijing is listening.