China has wrapped up a single day of military drills simulating a blockade of Taiwan, with a record 153 military aircraft spotted during the 13-hour exercise. Beijing says the drills are meant to serve as a deterrent to "Taiwanese separatist forces."
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00:00Chinese naval ships, bombers, and advanced fighter jets, all operating around Taiwan.
00:11China held one of its largest war games around Taiwan on Monday.
00:15Beijing says these exercises, known as Joint Sword 2024b, practice controlling key ports
00:22and hitting military targets in Taiwan.
00:27In response, Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-de, called an emergency high-level security meeting,
00:32deployed Taiwan's own armed forces, and called the drills irrational.
00:37Taiwan's defense ministry says a record 153 Chinese military planes were spotted near
00:45the country during the 13 hours of the drill.
00:49Alongside them were more than 38 naval and coast guard ships, practicing how to blockade
00:54the country.
00:55A Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was also spotted operating off Taiwan's southeast
01:00coast.
01:01The presence of the Liaoning, along with the advanced fighter jets, and the Joint Sword
01:072024b, created military pressure on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
01:16Beijing says the drills are a warning against what it says are Taiwanese independence forces.
01:22They come after President Lai Ching-de gave a speech on Taiwan's National Day, saying
01:26neither the Republic of China, which is Taiwan's official name, or the People's Republic of
01:31China are subordinate to one another.
01:34It's a statement that angered China's government, as it sees Taiwan as a renegade province,
01:38despite never having controlled it.
01:53The U.S., which is obligated by law to provide Taiwan with weapons, said it was seriously
01:59concerned with Beijing's exercises.
02:04But this isn't the first time China has conducted large-scale drills.
02:08A visit from then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022 and Lai's inauguration in May
02:14this year also saw Beijing react with military exercises.
02:19And China's growing focus on blockading Taiwan allows it to pressure the country without
02:24firing a shot, complicating a U.S. response.
02:28An invasion is the use of lethal kinetic force and that would force the United States to
02:34make a decision whether to intervene or not.
02:37I think that some believe that a blockade puts the United States and its allies and
02:41partners in a bit of a quandary because China would say, well, it's not a blockade again
02:46because Taiwan is not an international issue.
02:50Potentially that puts the onus on the United States or Taiwan to fire the first shot and
02:54be seen as the party that's escalating it.
02:57China's military has vowed further action against Taiwan if needed, setting the stage
03:02for future drills.
03:04Defense officials in Taiwan say the increase in military activity is making it harder to
03:08tell what China is planning.
03:11And there's a concern that one day such drills could turn into an attack.
03:15John Su and Jaime O'Connor for Taiwan Plus.