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Taiwan’s armed forces simulated identifying and attacking Chinese naval vessels in drills to reassure the public amid concerns that Beijing could raise pressure on the country after the ruling Democratic Progressive party’s victory in this month’s presidential election.
As part of the exercise, a high-speed minelaying vessel laid a dummy sea mine about 10 nautical miles outside Zuoying naval base on Taiwan’s south-west coast on Wednesday.
It was accompanied by Marines in a group of M109 amphibious assault boats, while four missile speedboats secured the nearby waters and onshore mobile units simulated launching Hsiung Feng anti-ship missiles against enemy vessels.
A day earlier, Taiwan’s air force showed off its P-3C patrol aircraft — which can monitor and target enemy submarines with Harpoon anti-ship missiles and torpedoes — and E-2K airborne early-warning aircraft.
The drill comes as Taiwan’s government and security analysts expect China to step up its military intimidation campaign around the island, which it claims as its own and threatens to take by force if necessary.
Taipei protested against Beijing’s decision this week to change civil aviation routes over the strait that separates the countries in a way that brings Chinese civilian aircraft closer to the unofficial median line. Beijing did not consult Taiwan’s government on the move, which takes effect on Thursday.
“Chinese aircraft could now end up flying across the line when they have to adjust flight paths due to weather conditions,” said Colonel Sun Li-fang, Taiwan’s defence ministry spokesperson. The change increases the burden on Taiwan’s armed forces, which monitor air traffic in order to provide an early warning of any Chinese military air incursions.
While the Chinese Communist party frequently claimed in the run-up to the presidential election that the DPP’s candidate Lai Ching-te would lead Taiwan towards war, Beijing’s reaction to his victory has been muted.
Taiwanese national security officials nonetheless said they expected the People’s Liberation Army to resume larger-scale manoeuvres in the vicinity of the island from March onward, when China’s military exercise season begins.
The PLA has over the past three years consistently increased the frequency, scale and sophistication of naval and air manoeuvres around Taiwan, including passages through the skies and waters south-west of the island, where Taiwan’s drills this week were focused.
Two Marine Corps officers involved in Wednesday’s exercise said they were observing Chinese military vessels more often during their normal operations than two years ago.
The drill covered an area of crucial importance for wartime submarine operations: where the Taiwan Strait’s shallower waters — in which noise allows Chinese attack submarines to hide — meets the deeper South China Sea and the Bashi Channel, through which US submarines can approach from their base in Guam.
