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A sharpening of swords: Deciphering China’s Taiwan military exercises
Ever larger drills could make it harder to distinguish between war games and the real thing
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President Lai Ching-te at a naval base following a Chinese military drills earlier in the week, in Taoyuan, Taiwan, on Oct 18.
PHOTO: AFP
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For the second time this year, Beijing has attempted to upstage Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s government with a headline-grabbing, fear-generating military exercise.
Like the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Taiwan Strait exercises in August 2022, April 2023 and May 2024, the Oct 14 drill was large, joint (that is, included different armed services acting in concert), and realistic in that Chinese forces practised using specific capabilities and tactics they would likely employ in a war against Taiwan and the United States.
