China simulates full-scale invasion of Taiwan

The People’s Liberation Army on Thursday launched large-scale joint military exercises around Taiwan after the island’s President William Lai Ching-te, in his inauguration speech on Monday, had highlighted China’s infiltrations and military threats.

Meanwhile, an amendment that will reduce the Lai administration’s powers has led to a political fight in the Legislative Yuan this week. Some commentators said Beijing hopes the legislative saga will burn out Lai and stop him from pushing “Taiwan independence.”

The Eastern Theater Command of the PLA said in a statement that it had started two-day joint military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan on Thursday morning.

The drills, called the “Joint Sword-2024A exercises,” are being conducted in the Taiwan Strait – including areas around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqi and Dongyin – as well as to the north, south and east of Taiwan Island.

Given the code name and its use of the letter A, the latest PLA drills could open the door to potential follow-ups this year, Chieh Chung, a researcher at the Taipei-based Association of Strategic Foresight, told Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

The nine designated locations for the PLA exercises have included Taiwan’s outlying islands for the first time in recent years, meaning that Beijing wants to simulate a full-scale Chinese armed invasion of Taiwan, he said.

A total of 16 PLA warships, 19 Chinese coast guard vessels and 49 warplanes had been detected near Taiwan as of 6 pm on Thursday, announced Huang Wen-chi, deputy chief of the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense’s Office of the General Staff for Intelligence.

He added that none of the PLA warplanes or warships entered the 24-nautical-mile zone just off Taiwan’s coast. He