China has conducted its largest naval exercise in nearly 30 years, catching Taiwan and the US off guard. The deployment involved over 100 ships, two-thirds from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA) and one-third from the coastguard, spread out across the East and South China Seas as well as waters far off Taiwan’s east coast.
Taiwan’s military scrambled to respond, setting up an emergency response centre and holding snap readiness drills. However, US officials described the activity as “consistent” with levels seen during other large exercises and did not see it as a response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s recent visits to Hawaii and Guam.
China announced partial restrictions on air traffic in seven zones hugging its coastline from Shanghai to Hong Kong for two days. In contrast, there was no propaganda campaign or statement from the PLA about the exercise.
The divergent messages highlight the challenge of assessing China’s intentions and responding to Beijing’s use of its increasingly powerful military in a creeping pressure campaign on several of its neighbours. Observers warned that conducting exercises of this scale more regularly would make it harder to spot preparations for an attack on Taiwan.
Taiwanese officials described the exercise as a demonstration of China’s ability to “lock down” the First Island Chain, which separates China from the Pacific Ocean. The US official said Taiwan may have become overly alarmed due to its increased capabilities in detecting Chinese military activity.
The exercise has implications for Japan and the Philippines, with one senior Japanese official describing it as a new normal: that China can conduct manoeuvres of this size without announcement, leaving all parties struggling to respond.
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/025a81f1-2cb2-459d-8427-46fd44b1b2c3