The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China launched another series of live-fire drills near Taiwan on Tuesday, warning ships to stay away from the Pingtan Islands region off the southern coast of China.
The new exercise came only a week after China held a massive drill that put a record number of warplanes and naval vessels in the waters around Taiwan. The exercise, which included simulated attacks on Taiwanese ports and infrastructure, was explicitly billed as a “stern warning” to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te and his “independence forces.”
China more modestly presented Tuesday’s drills as regularly-scheduled, annual training exercises. Taiwanese officials kept a wary eye on the proceedings but did not raise undue alarm about the PLA’s activities.
“It cannot be ruled out that it is one of the ways to expand the deterrent effect in line with the dynamics in the Taiwan Strait,” the Taiwan Defense Ministry said.
“No matter how large the scale of the drill is, they should not be frequent and close to Taiwan. This will only cause unnecessary tension,” Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai complained on Tuesday.
The U.S. and the Philippines held large joint exercises after China’s intimidating drills last week.
On Sunday, the American destroyer USS Higgins and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver made a passage through the Taiwan Strait, which the U.S. 7th Fleet said was a demonstration of “the United States’ and Canada’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle.”
“The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited,” the 7th Fleet said.
“The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigations, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air,” the statement concluded.