The New Taiwan government criticizes Chinese military exercises

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan has condemned China for embarking on two days of war games around the self-governing island in what the Chinese Communist Party is calling “punishment” for “separatist acts” days after Taiwan inaugurated a new democratically-elected president.

Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang denounced the joint military exercises, which started early Thursday local time and include China surrounding Taiwan with its army, navy, air force, and rocket force, as the CCP flexing “their muscles to the new government.”

“How to keep the safety and peace, security, in the Taiwan Strait is becoming a very important issue,” Tien told reporters Thursday during a briefing attended by the Washington Examiner. “That kind of action, it violates, actually it disturbs the security and prosperity in the region.”

“Taiwan, we are determined to keep the status quo,” he said. “We are not provocative. … Keep the free and open Indo-Pacific, that is our main goal over there.”

Tien, who became deputy foreign minister this week as a member of President Lai Ching-te’s administration, added China is “trying to destroy the status quo” and its actions are “not reasonable.” The Lai administration’s foreign policy is that Taiwan will not declare its independence from China because it is already a sovereign country, a position China does not accept. China seeks to unify the island with the mainland.

“We always keep alert,” Tien said of Taiwan’s broader defense strategy. “We are building our self-defense capability unit. And we are trying to make the whole wide world understand where we stand. We develop our democracy. We develop our human rights. We develop our economy.”

The anticipated drills, the third-largest set since Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) traveled to Taiwan in 2022, present Lai’s first cross-strait test. Under the name “Joint Sword-2024A,” the “A” indicating more to come, the drills included China crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and conducting mock attacks.

“This is also a strong punishment for the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces,” the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said.

During a separate briefing at Taiwan’s top military think tank, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, fellows described China’s war games as another round of propaganda and physical warfare, underscoring how they are taking place on the island’s east coast.

“When there’s action, this will be the reaction between China and Taiwan,” associate research fellow Tzu-Chieh Hung told reporters. “But I have to say, if you look back to China’s PLA’s military strategy, you will find out, in this strategy, they are going to push forward to the Western Pacific no matter what. In that point, those reactions were not a reaction, it’s actually an excuse.”

During his inaugural address on Monday, Lai, who succeeded former President Tsai Ing-wen from his own Democratic Progressive Party, implored China to “cease their political and military intimidation against Taiwan.” The DPP is perceived as being more pro-U.S., with the conservative party, the Kuomintang, being more pro-China.

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“I hope that China will face the reality of the Republic of China’s existence, respect the choices of the people of Taiwan, and in good faith, choose dialogue over confrontation, exchange over containment, and under the principles of parity and dignity, engage in cooperation with the legal government chosen by Taiwan’s people,” Lai told the crowd.

“As we pursue the ideal of peace, we must not harbor any delusions,” he said. “So long as China refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, all of us in Taiwan ought to understand that, even if we accept the entirety of China’s position and give up our sovereignty, China’s ambition to annex Taiwan will not simply disappear.”