China: Drills around Taiwan test ‘seizure of power’ capability

An outdoor screen shows a news coverage of China’s military drills around Taiwan, in Beijing on May 23, 2024. China launched on May 23 what it called “Joint Sword-2024A” exercises, surrounding Taiwan with warplanes and navy ships and vowing “stern punishment” of separatist forces on the island. (Photo by Jade Gao / AFP)

BEIJING — China on Friday said ongoing drills encircling Taiwan were testing the military’s ability to seize power over the self-ruled island.

The two-day exercises are testing the “capability of joint seizure of power, joint strikes and control of key territories,” said Li Xi, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, according to state media.

China’s military kicked off the war games Thursday morning, surrounding Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft, while vowing the blood of “independence forces” on the island would flow.

READ: China holds military drills around Taiwan as ‘punishment’

The exercises – codenamed “Joint Sword-2024A” – come after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan’s new president this week and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a “confession of independence.”

Beijing, which split with Taipei at the end of a civil war 75 years ago, regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified.

READ: China trying to ‘normalize’ military drills near Taiwan

The drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China that has seen it carry out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years.

As the drills got underway, China’s military said they would serve as “strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces.”