China is building its capacity to rapidly turn military drills into a full-out attack, a senior Taiwan security official said, providing the Taipei government’s assessment of the strategic intent behind Beijing’s war games around the island this week.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, staged large-scale drills on Monday that it said were a warning to “separatist acts” following last week’s national day speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.
Taiwan has for the past five years complained of almost daily Chinese military activities around the island, including at least four rounds of major war games and regular “joint combat readiness patrols”.
“They are increasing the building up of their capacity to turn military exercises into a conflict,” the official said at a briefing in Taipei, requesting anonymity to be able to speak more frankly.
Taiwan reported a record 153 Chinese aircraft took part in the drills, and the official added an unprecedented 25 Chinese navy and coast guard boats also approached close to Taiwan’s 24-mile (39-km) contiguous zone.
“They approached very close to Taiwan. They increased their pressure on Taiwan and squeezed Taiwan’s response time,” the official said. “This drill presented more of a threat than ever before to Taiwan.”
The official said during the drill, China launched two missiles towards an unspecified inland area, without providing further details.
“Although they did not fire missiles towards Taiwan this time, they did practice missile launches,” the official said.
China’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Monday, it vowed to take further action as needed against Taiwan, while on Wednesday China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing will never commit to renouncing the use of force over Taiwan.
