Taiwan is caught in the eye of a Chinese military storm 

Taiwan defense officials have warned that China has deployed nearly 90 naval and coast guard vessels in waters stretching from islands in the south of Japan to the South China Sea. The deployment is the largest in regional waters in almost three decades.

Speaking at a media briefing earlier this week, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said Beijing’s operation was not only targeting Taipei. 

It was also aimed at preventing regional countries, including Japan and the Philippines, from coming to the democratic island’s defense. Sun said:

The scale is the largest compared to the previous four [Chinese war games]. 

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to achieve its goal of reunification. There is little to no support for unification in Taiwan. 

Spokesperson Sun said the exercises were the largest since war games were held around the island in response to its first presidential elections in 1996.

Military aircraft

In recent days, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had detected 21 Chinese vessels and 47 Chinese military aircraft operating in the vicinity of the island.

Hsieh Jih-sheng, a senior intelligence officer at Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, told journalists at the same briefing that China’s broader maritime deployment is aimed at blocking forces from Japan and the Philippines from coming to Taiwan’s aid.

In addition to honing its capabilities to deny access around the island, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said China is also forming two “walls” in the western Pacific.

It is deploying large numbers of vessels to the eastern end of the island’s Air Defense Identification Zone and an area further out in the Pacific.

Air defense identification zones are unilaterally established by a country’s air defense forces and are not underpinned by international treaty or law. Hsieh pointed out:

With these two walls, they are sending a clear message: The Taiwan Strait is their internal waters, and cross-strait issues should be handled by the People’s Liberation Army [PLA] and the People’s Republic of China.

Taiwan had been preparing for a potential Chinese military exercise since President Lai Ching-te set off on his first overseas trip to the Pacific region on November 30. It included stopovers in the American territory of Guam and the US state of Hawaii.

During the tour, Taipei repeatedly warned about China launching a new round of military drills near the island and urged Beijing not to “send the wrong signals.”

When asked about the movements of PLA Navy vessels this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning did not provide additional details:

The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair. China will firmly defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Maritime operations

One Chinese analyst, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Voice of America that it is hard to say why Beijing has not publicly announced any maritime operations around Taiwan.

J Michael Cole at the Global Taiwan Institute in Taipei said Beijing may want to “keep the Taiwanese side guessing” by not announcing its planned military operations. He wrote in a written response to VOA:

Telegraphing one’s intentions only goes so far. Beijing may want to be more flexible and less predictable than it has been in the past.

Stephen Nagy, a professor of politics and international studies at Tokyo’s International Christian University, pointed out that maintaining ambiguity makes it difficult for Taiwan and regional countries to respond to Chinese military operations. He said:

Ambiguity creates challenges for Taiwan and neighboring stakeholders, such as Japan, the United States, and the Philippines, to know what the Chinese are doing and what’s the best way to respond.

Despite the lack of clarity from Beijing, Cole in Taipei said the Taiwanese government’s efforts to “proactively” disclose Chinese military activities help to bring global attention to the threats and pressure that democratically ruled Taiwan faces. He told VOA:

Such public diplomacy makes the threat more palpable and turns an abstract concept into something that is real and that people can relate to.

Earlier this week, Taiwan launched a series of defense drills at strategic locations across the island and publicized information about the Chinese military operations.

Those moves, Taiwanese experts said, have helped Taipei create an intelligence deterrence against Beijing. Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told VOA:

By swiftly disclosing Chinese military operations in the region and initiating its countermeasures, Taiwan is trying to deter China from further escalating its activities.

Regional presence

Still, while Taipei has adopted countermeasures, analysts stressed that Beijing is using coercion by maintaining a constant military presence across the region. 

Drew Thompson at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, and a former Pentagon official, told VOA :

The People’s Liberation [Army] and Chinese Coast Guard are so big that they can maintain a constant presence near Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan at the same time. Military operators may have a difficult time discerning when an attack is coming when every day looks like an attack.

William Yang is a correspondent for Voice of America based in Taiwan.

This edited article is republished courtesy of Voice of America. Read the original article here.

The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy of China Factor.