PLA backs mainland drill with threat to ‘crush’ Taiwan separatists
- Warning of determined response comes a day after Taiwanese president rebuffed calls for peaceful reunification
- The Chinese military is also carrying out beach landing and other exercises in Fujian province, directly across the Taiwan Strait
A PLA Daily commentary said the Chinese military was confident and capable of “thwarting all external interference and separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’”.
“If the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces dared to split Taiwan from China in any name and by any means, the People’s Liberation Army will resolutely crush it at all costs,” it said.
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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says island 'will not bow' to mainland China
The warning came as mainland China also boosted its deployment against Taiwan, flying a record number of military aircraft into the island’s air defence identification zone.
PLA Daily reported on Monday that troops had carried out beach landing and assault drills in the southern part of Fujian province, which is directly across the Taiwan Strait from the island.
The action involved “shock” troops, sappers and boat specialists, the Chinese military newspaper added. The troops were “divided into multiple waves to grab the beach and perform combat tasks at different stages”, it said, without giving further details.
State broadcaster CCTV also aired footage of a live fire drill involving various types of warships from the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command in mock combat between red and blue forces. The footage showed a warship capable of continuing combat operations with damaged equipment, as well as the speed at which Chinese troops can launch a counter-attack.
Observers said the reports were a show of PLA force – meant to ramp up pressure on the self-ruled island and warn it against declaring formal independence.
China mounts live-fire test of new anti-tank missile in ‘Taiwan drill’
“Apparently, the release of the reports of the drills was timed,” said Li Da-jung, a professor of international relations and strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taipei.”
Li said they were meant as a warning to the island’s president Tsai Ing-wen for her renewal of the controversial “state-to-state theory” in her Sunday address marking the 110th founding anniversary of the Republic of China – the island’s official title.
Beijing considers Taiwan its territory that must return to the mainland fold, by force if necessary.
Over the weekend, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing hoped Taiwan could be reunited peacefully with the Chinese mainland, and warned that those who opposed this would be “spurned by the people”.
Xi says peaceful Taiwan reunification is in country’s best interests
Her remarks – made a day after Xi called for peaceful cross-strait relations and warned against Taiwan independence – were seen by some academics from Taiwan and the mainland as a renewal of the “special state-to-state theory” which sharply provoked Beijing in 1999.
Tsai was the principal drafter of the theory, which was adopted by then-president Lee Teng-hui and calls for Taipei and Beijing to be treated equally.
Li said the reports were also meant as a warning to the US, following reports it sent military personnel to help train some of Taiwan’s troops on the island.
Citing US officials, The Wall Street Journal reported last week that two dozen members of US special-operations units and a contingent of marines had been in Taiwan for at least a year training troops in secret.
The report prompted angry criticism from Beijing, which said the move went against Washington’s commitments made when the two sides established formal diplomatic relations on the basis of the one-China principle.
Wang Kung-yi, head of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society, a Taipei think tank, said there was no doubt Beijing would be angered by Tsai’s address, which rebuffed Xi’s proposal and claimed the island and mainland were not subordinate to each other.
He said Beijing regularly released details of military drills to try and ramp up pressure on Taiwan, and the latest reports should not necessarily be viewed as a direct response to Tsai’s remarks.
Timeline: Taiwan’s relations with mainland China under Tsai Ing-wen
Ma Cheng-kun, director of the National Defence University’s Graduate Institute of China Military Affairs Studies in Taipei, said he expected Beijing to intensify its military intimidation of the island before next year’s 20th Congress, but not to the point that it would invade Taiwan.
Xi’s call for peaceful cross-strait unification suggested he had no immediate plan to send forces to attack Taiwan, as long as Taipei did not breach the red line by declaring formal independence, Ma said.
“Also, there should be an understanding between the US and mainland China that even though the PLA intensifies its military threats against Taiwan, it will not necessarily lead to any military adventure from the mainland.” He added this would also mean that – regardless of the strength of US commitment to safeguard the island’s security and its denunciation of PLA threats – the situation would not lead to Washington taking real action against Beijing.
“This would ensure that unintended conflicts between the US and the mainland could be avoided,” he said.
