Show of force by China has eased off, but observers say it will strike ‘fear and a sense of inevitability in Taiwanese hearts and minds’.
China’s military drills targeting Taiwan have set a new normal, and are likely to “regularise” similar armed exercises off the coast or even more aggressive action much closer to the island, analysts have said.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been conducting live-fire exercises and other drills in the seas around Taiwan’s main island for almost a week, in a purported response to the controversial visit to Taipei by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Beijing claims Taiwan as a province. It has not ruled out taking it by force and objects to any and all foreign shows of support for its sovereignty. Taiwan has accused Beijing of using Pelosi’s visit as an excuse to prepare for an invasion.
While some drills are continuing, the big show put on last week has ended, and observers are now trying to assess how the dynamics of the region have changed, and what the future holds for cross-strait relations.
“This is about striking fear and a sense of inevitability in Taiwanese hearts and minds,” said Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy in east Asia at King’s College London. “There is, in the political messaging delivered through military means, a real risk that these more overtly aggressive steps might be normalised.”
Whether Beijing felt it achieved anything with its drills was unclear, some analysts said. A US Pentagon official said this week there was no change to their assessment that China would not try to retake Taiwan militarily in the next two years.
According to a Guardian analysis of public data from Taiwan, China and Japan, the PLA sent at least 140 planes into Taiwan’s air defence zone during the week, including 100 over the median line, an unofficial maritime line that crosses the middle of the Taiwan strait. The planes included fighter jets, reconnaissance planes, H-6 bombers and a refuelling aircraft.
The PLA navy claims it came within Taiwan’s territorial waters, which Taiwan disputes. At least 41 Chinese ships also crossed the median line. Ten PLA navy ships played “cat and mouse” around the line with 10 Taiwan ships on Sunday, according to Taipei. At least seven “batches” of one or more drones were detected over Taiwan’s outlying islands, Kinmen and Matsu, with Taiwan’s defence ministry saying flares were fired in response. Aerial drones were also seen near Japan.
“It’s impossible to do an accurate assessment of how well the PLA performed in conducting joint operations,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund.
"[Xi] wants to show his power, to let Taiwan and America know that the PRC is not like 25 years ago … and the PLA is rising,” Lin says. “He also wants to show his power to mainland people"