China Says Drills Around Taiwan Target 'Arrogance' of Separatists

Facts

• China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian stated on Wednesday that recent military drills around the island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, were held to fight the “arrogance” of Taiwanese secessionist forces.¹
• She added that continued provocations have forced the People's Liberation Army to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and urged officials in Taiwan to work with China to maintain peace and stability in the Strait.²
• Meanwhile, Taiwan's defense ministry reported that 16 Chinese aircraft had entered the island's air defense identification in the previous 24 hours, with 12 crossing the unofficial median line of the Taiwan Strait.³
• This comes a day after Taiwan Pres. Tsai Ing-wen met Australian lawmakers to seek support for its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Beijing has claimed the island is using economic and trade issues to seek independence.⁴
• Meanwhile, speaking at the 37th anniversary of his Democratic Progressive Party on Wednesday, Taiwan's Vice President William Lai accused China of continuously attempting to annex the island.⁵
• Taiwan — which announced last week that it is also monitoring Chinese drills in the coastal Fujian province — is due on Thursday to launch the first of eight indigenous submarines as part of its plans to strengthen defenses against China.⁶

Sources: ¹The standard, ²Reuters, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Abc news, ⁵Taipei times and ⁶Guardian.

Narratives

• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global times. The island of Taiwan has been an integral part of Chinese territory for centuries. However, the Chinese people on both sides of the Straits are yet to be reunified following the 1949 split. Beijing has long sought to peacefully reunify the motherland under the agreed-upon One China policy — which the US signed off on — but secessionist Taiwanese officials backed by the US have recently begun to pursue provocative actions that are threatening the status quo.
• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Taiwan news. Beijing is waging psychological warfare on Taiwan by periodically sending Chinese military aircraft into the island nation's Air Defense Identification Zone. This pressure campaign aims to intimidate Taiwanese leaders and their citizens to achieve a political outcome favorable to China. The US must stand with its democratic ally and reject efforts by the PRC to undermine Taiwanese sovereignty.

Predictions