What we can learn from China's latest military exercises around Taiwan

China's day of wargames around democratically-governed Taiwan was Monday a warning against'separatist actions.

Although they appeared shorter, the drills were intense and fast-paced in their simulation of attacks and deployments of ships and aircraft. The last major war games were held in May, following the inauguration of Lai Ching Te as Taiwan's new president.

What we know of China's strategic intent behind the drills this week and their new features.

BLOCKADES

Chinese military officials said that part of the drills were a "key-port blockade", which would have cut off Taiwan's lifeline of imports for trade, food and power.

Zhang Chi, a military expert from China's National Defence University and the state-backed Global Times, said that it was to demonstrate China's capability to stop energy imports. This is especially true at ports where LNG is offloaded.

The newspaper quoted Zhang saying, "The People's Liberation Army is trying to prove to the world that it can block the importation of energy resources to Taiwan and have a significant impact on its economy and society."

Analysts and foreign military attachés say that this aspect of the drills will be closely examined, as it could isolate Taiwan and pressure her ahead of a full-blown invasion.

Taiwan's CPC, the state-run energy firm, said on Monday that LNG imports were not affected, and criticized online reports to the contrary as false.

"This time, there was a special component: the so-called blockade or quarantine, where they were able to practice their blocking abilities," said Su Tzu Yun, director of defence strategies and resources at Taiwan’s leading military think tank, The Institute for National Defence and Security Research.

CHINA IS GETTING CLOSER

China's military released a map that showed drill zones closer to Taiwan. For the first time ever, all of them included areas in Taiwan's contiguous zone, which is a 24-mile-long (39 km) radius.

Ma Chen-kun told a Taipei forum on Monday that all the drill zones announced were closer to Taiwan Island, including the 24-mile zone.

A More Involved Coast Guard

China's Coast Guard, the largest in the world, participated more actively than ever before in the drills on Monday. It encircled the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands beside the Chinese coastline and operated both sides of Taiwan mainland.

Taiwan officials claim that the use of the coastguard is part of "grey-zone" strategy, which stops short of war but aims to enforce China's right to control and manage the Taiwan Strait.

Analysts claim that China's coastguard is able maintain a constant presence in the South China Sea and near Taiwan.

Taiwan is especially wary of Chinese Coast Guard efforts to board Taiwan's civilian ships for law enforcement reasons. Hsieh Ching chin, the deputy chief of Taiwan's Coast Guard, warned on Monday that such incidents could be a serious provocation.

Collin Koh of Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said that it was "unprecedented", for so many Coast Guard ships to be patrolling simultaneously around the island.

He added that the move "could be a new normal for Beijing's gray zone pressure on Taiwan."

PROPAGANDA

In previous Chinese wargames, military videos and animations of missile strikes on Taiwan were released.

One person caricatured Taiwan's President Lai Ching Te with pointed ears like those of the devil, in what a Taiwanese security source called a personal attack against a man Beijing detests already as a "separatist".

China released two videos, less professionally produced, of sailors commenting about weather conditions near the major Taiwanese ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung.

Taiwan's television broadcasters show these videos in their regular coverage of drills. Taiwan's government says they are part of a "cognitive war" to undermine confidence in the military.

INFILTRATION?

Taiwan's Coast Guard said that shortly after the drills started, it had detained a Chinese man who was using a rubberboat to approach one the heavily militarised islets controlled by Taiwan and located opposite the Chinese city of Xiamen.

The coast guard stated that it could not exclude this incident from China's "grey zones" activities threatening Taiwan’s offshore islands. Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Greg Torode, both in Taipei. Additional reporting by Fabian Hamacher, also in Taipei. Editing by Clarence Fernandez.

(source: Reuters)