Editorial | Drills that blockaded Taiwan a reminder of Beijing’s red lines
Island’s leader William Lai continues to test Beijing’s patience with inflammatory talk, a situation that serves no one’s interests
An escalation of cross-strait tensions is best avoided ahead of an American election. But that does not reckon with the timing of a defiant speech that angered Beijing last week by Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te, followed by a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drill that mounted a combat-ready sea-and-air blockade around the island.
PLA readiness drills are not new. What set this exercise apart was first the sheer scale and reach of it.
Second, the mainland side made it clear the main purpose was to send a direct message and stern warning to independence advocates in Taiwan – not to the Taiwanese people. Third, it included the aircraft carrier Liaoning, a warfare platform that sailed to the strategically important eastern side of Taiwan as a symbolic deterrence to foreign intervention in any cross-strait conflict.
This sent another reminder that China’s navy has Pacific Ocean capability.
The Joint Sword-2024B exercises came four days after Lai’s “Double Tenth” speech in which he again said the two sides “are not subordinate to each other” and Beijing had no authority to represent the island. Double Tenth, referring to October 10, is celebrated in Taiwan to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1911 revolution that led to the founding of the Republic of China.
