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China held large-scale military drills in the waters and skies surrounding Taiwan on Monday, a show of force that signaled the growing threat of Beijing’s ability to choke the self-governing island that China claims as its own.
China said its army, navy, air force, rocket force and other troops took part in the drills to test their ability to fight alongside one another. China’s oldest aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, also participated in the drills, state media reported, the first time the ship has joined military exercises targeting Taiwan.
Beijing said the drills were a warning to Taiwan’s government after the island’s president, Lai Ching-te, made a speech on National Day last week that China regarded as a message promoting independence.
Chinese naval and air exercises near Taiwan have become routine as China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has sought to pressure the island by reminding it of China’s military superiority. But Monday’s drills were unusual for their scale, the latest of only several conducted in recent years aimed at honing China’s ability to impose a blockade to cut the island off from the outside world.
Taiwan said that China had flown 125 aircraft, a record, toward the island on Monday, exceeding the previous record of 103, in September of last year. Taiwan also tracked 17 Chinese naval vessels and 17 coast guard ships.
The exercises risk raising tensions with the United States, whose support for Taiwan has long driven a wedge between Beijing and Washington. Last week, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, speaking at a regional conference in Laos, warned China not to use Mr. Lai’s National Day address as a pretext for “provocative actions.”
On Monday, Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said the United States was “seriously concerned” about China’s military drills, which he called “provocations to a routine annual speech” that risked escalating tensions in the region.
The drills could also undermine Beijing’s recent efforts to try to reassure global investors amid years of sluggish growth that it is safe to invest in China.
“This is a powerful deterrent against the separatist activities of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a legitimate and necessary action to defend national sovereignty and maintain national unity,” said Senior Col. Li Xi, a spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, which oversees an area including Taiwan, according to state media. By sundown in Taipei, Chinese state media said the exercises had concluded.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, in a statement, condemned China’s “irrational and provocative behavior” and said it had dispatched troops to respond to the drills. Taiwan said the drills were conducted in six large areas encircling Taiwan, as well as three smaller areas near its outlying islands.
The Chinese Coast Guard deployed six fleets, according to state media. Four of those ships, Taiwanese authorities said, sailed into restricted waters near Taiwan’s Matsu Islands, which lie close to China’s mainland. The Coast Guard’s exercises were “meant to signal that Taiwan waters are Chinese,” said Wen-Ti Sung, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
China called the exercise “Joint Sword-2024B,” suggesting that it was a continuation of a two-day exercise in May, called “Joint Sword-2024A,” that was held after Mr. Lai was sworn in. Beijing dislikes Mr. Lai, accusing him and his party of seeking independence.
In a speech on Thursday commemorating Taiwan’s National Day, Mr. Lai said that China and Taiwan were “not subordinate to each other” and that Beijing had “no right to represent Taiwan” and its 23 million people. Still, Mr. Lai said he was committed to upholding peace and that he was willing to work with China on global challenges like climate change.
China immediately criticized Mr. Lai’s speech. Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said his remarks were an attempt to “sever the historical connections between the two sides.”
Chang Wu-ueh, director of the Institute of China Studies at Tamkang University in New Taipei City in Taiwan, said that Mr. Lai’s speech was a reiteration of points he had made earlier, and not an escalation. “It shows that China has no trust and no expectations for President Lai,” Dr. Chang said. “No matter what he says, it will be dissatisfied.”
In the past, China has appeared to be calibrating the drills to avoid causing significant disruption. In some exercises that involved the use of live ammunition, for instance, China issued warnings in advance, announced no-fly zones and delineated zones of activity with specific longitudes and latitudes.
Mr. Sung with the Atlantic Council said China was trying to thread a needle by showing its resolve to push back against Mr. Lai, but not so hard that it harmed its efforts to stabilize its economy. Beijing has pledged a raft of economic stimulus measures in recent weeks, most recently on Saturday when the Ministry of Finance said it would borrow more to help local governments and state-owned banks.
“They want to show just enough force to drive home the point, but not so much to scare off international investors,” Mr. Sung said.
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