China: Warplane Exercises... Warnings to Taiwan, U.S.

A Chinese government official stated on Wednesday that recent military drills near Taiwan were designed as warnings to Taiwanese independence supporters and external forces, a subtle reference to the US.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry observed 153 People's Liberation Army warplane sorties into international airspace southwest of the island, including 150 flights in five days, according to Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in Beijing.

It was a worrisome escalation that coincided with China's National Day celebrations on October 1, but until this week, Beijing had not explicitly tied the PLA missions to any targeted audiences.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry observed 153 People's Liberation Army warplane sorties into international airspace southwest of the island, including 150 flights in five days, according to Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in Beijing.

It was a worrisome escalation that coincided with China's National Day celebrations on October 1, but until this week, Beijing had not explicitly tied the PLA missions to any targeted audiences.

Cross-strait tensions were at their most acute in the four decades since Taiwan Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng enlisted in the military, he told legislators last week. By 2025, he estimated, the PLA would have the potential to attack Taiwan at a low cost.

At all levels, the Biden administration has supported Taiwan and labeled Chinese military flights as disruptive and threatening miscalculations.

Beijing, on the other hand, appears to be alone in blaming rising tensions on Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which it alleges is pushing for the island's formal independence despite Taiwan's leadership's vows to the contrary.

The TAO's Ma said that if the DPP authorities stubbornly persist and don't stop before it's too late, it will only push Taiwan into a more dangerous situation.

Faced with Beijing's consistent claim that Taiwan is a Chinese province, Taipei insists it is already a functionally independent state under the formal name the Republic of China, and therefore doesn't see a need to declare independence.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen rebuffed her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Sunday after he had insisted the island's "unification" with the mainland was inevitable. Tsai said her country's future would be decided by its 23.5 million people. The U.S., for its part, continues to support Taiwan's democracy.