Taiwan Tracks Fighters, Bombers and Drones in China's Latest Combat Drill

Taiwan said it tracked four Chinese naval vessels and 57 military aircraft in its surrounding sea and airspace on Monday after Beijing signaled its displeasure at Taipei's warming ties with the West.

At least 22 fighter jets, two nuclear-capable heavy bombers and three military drones were among the 28 Chinese aircraft that crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and operated inside the Taiwanese air defense identification zone in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. local time, Taiwan's defense ministry said, in flight paths that appeared to envelop the island from three sides.

China claims Taiwan as its own, but Taipei rejects the sovereignty claims. The median line has acted as an unofficial barrier between the competing militaries for seven decades, while the ADIZ is an additional buffer—used by Taiwan, China and others in the region—to identify approaching aircraft. Beijing has begun to ignore both in recent years, in behavior the United States says is destabilizing.

In an announcement shortly before midnight on Sunday, the Chinese military, known as the People's Liberation Army, said it had held a "joint combat-readiness security patrol and real-combat exercise" around Taiwan, the first such drill since a flurry of activity last August in response to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's high-profile visit to Taipei.

The latest exercise aimed to "resolutely counter the collusive and provocative acts of the external forces and the Taiwan independence separatist forces," Col. Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the PLA's Eastern Theater Command, was citted as saying.

"We seek neither escalation nor conflict," Taiwan's military said in its own response on Monday. "PLA's false accusation and irrational provocation have severely destabilized the security of Taiwan Strait and neighboring regions."

Chinese warplanes flew more than 1,700 sorties in the skies around Taiwan last year, nearly doubling its tally from the previous 12 months, according to statistics out of Taipei. The flights serve training and operational purposes for Beijing's forces, but they also pile coercive pressure on Taipei.

Vaguely defined "external forces" are China's go-to foe in both domestic and international politics. The phrase is commonly reserved for the U.S., but in recent years has targeted the mostly Western governments that have backed Taiwan in its decades-long standoff with its cross-strait neighbor.

Last Friday, Shi, the Chinese colonel, criticized U.S. Navy destroyer USS Chung-Hoon's transit of the Taiwan Strait the day before. The first such operation of the year followed nine similar transits in 2022 that sought to demonstrate the American military's resolve in the face of China's increased willingness to flex its hard power muscles in the region.

Washington hasn't had official diplomatic relations with Taipei since switching formal recognition to Beijing in 1979, the same year its treaty obligation to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack ended. However, the U.S. remains the island's largest supplier of arms, and Beijing likely expects American forces to intervene in the next Taiwan Strait crisis.

"In the future, in addition to the possible continuous increase in the number of PLA military aircraft, it is likely that they will get closer and closer to Taiwan's airspace and normalize it. It will compress the time of Taiwan's early warning," said Hung Tzu-chieh, a security analyst at Taiwan's top military think tank, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's recent decision to lengthen her country's compulsory military service to one year starting in 2024 "also conveys Taiwan's determination to strengthen self-defense," Hung told Newsweek.

"However, if Taiwan's national defense capabilities are to continue to increase and become a modernized army, it still needs to rely on the support of its allies, including weapons and equipment, technical support, joint exercises, and training methods," he said.

China's bellicose warnings for the U.S. and its allies to stay away from Taiwan, especially since its intense war games last August, have often had the opposite effect.

Last month, parliamentary delegations from Japan and South Korea visited Taipei in shows of solidarity that triggered diplomatic protests from Beijing. On Monday, parliamentarians from Lithuania and Germany arrived for separate visits this week, which are to include meetings with Tsai and other senior members of the Taiwanese leadership.

Johannes Vogel, a lawmaker with the Free Democratic Party, a member of Germany's ruling coalition, said "the threat of military aggression coming from Beijing is unacceptable."

"We want also that you see our visit here as a gesture of support," Vogel told Taiwan's parliament speaker, You Si-kun, ahead of the group's meeting with Taiwanese counterparts.

The Council on Foreign Relations last week listed the ongoing dispute between China and Taiwan among its top-tier risks in 2023. Cross-strait tensions had a moderate likelihood of becoming a flashpoint this year, but it would have a high impact on U.S. interests if it did, its report said.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about cross-strait relations? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.