China Taiwan: Beijing really doesn’t like Taiwan’s new president

The drills look like a simulation of a full-scale attack on the island, minus the actual landing of troops, Taiwan military expert Chieh Chung says. He thinks the inclusion of all of Taiwan’s off-shore islands demonstrates China’s plan to eliminate facilities that could launch a counter-attack against the PLA. He also thinks this two-day drill will not be the last Taiwan will have to endure this year – hence the name “Joint Sword 2024-A”.

On the streets of Taipei the response to the drills has been a collective shrug. Many will tell you they are not worried. But that is not quite true. Living next to China is like living in an earthquake zone. The threat is always there and the drills are getting bigger and more dangerous, so you need to be prepared for it. But you also need to get on with your life.

Despite rancorous relations between Taiwan’s ruling DPP and the opposition – they were brawling in parliament last week – the Chinese drills have brought all the parties together. The opposition KMT, which is traditionally seen as being pro-China, has called for Beijing to show restraint. This is not the time when they want to be seen as being friendly to Beijing.

There is a strange irony here – one that shows how little China’s communist leaders understand Taiwan and its people.

Today, they declared that the military operations are focused solely on “deterring and defeating independence forces”.

They said Mr Lai was the worst of them all – the Taiwanese leaders who had challenged Beijing. “Lai has surpassed Lee Teng-hui, Chen Shui-bian and Tsai Ing-wen in promoting independence for Taiwan,” a commentary on CCTV reads. These former presidents, voted in by the Taiwanese people, make up China’s pantheon of “separatists”. Three of them are from the DPP.

Every time China turns up the military intimidation, support for the DPP tends to rise, and that for the “China-friendly” KMT falls. A more recent case in point: months of military incursions in the lead-up to January’s election put Mr Lai in the top job.

If the aim is to frighten the people of Taiwan into turning away from parties and leaders who challenge Beijing, so far it seems to be having the opposite effect.