China launches massive military drills around Taiwan first after Trump's second presidency

     Beijing/Taipei, Apr 1 (PTI) China on Tuesday ratcheted up tensions in the Taiwan Strait by launching massive joint military exercises, consisting of multiple forces around beleaguered Taiwan, prompting Taipei to deploy military aircraft, naval vessels, and missiles to counter PLA drills.
     The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command started to conduct joint exercises around Taiwan Island, a spokesperson of the Command said.
     The Theatre Command organised its army, navy, air, and rocket forces to close in on Taiwan Island from multiple directions, its spokesperson Senior Colonel Shi Yi was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
     China, which claims Taiwan as part of its mainland, has conducted similar military exercises in the recent past, but this is the first major military exercise around Taiwan since US President Donald Trump assumed power for a second tenure.
     It followed the new US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth visit to Japan on Sunday during which both Tokyo and Washington agreed to accelerate efforts to strengthen the alliance's deterrence amid China's growing assertiveness in the region
     Hegseth said the US stands together with Japan "in the face of aggressive and coercive actions by the Communist Chinese" and emphasised that his nation is committed to sustaining "robust, ready and credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait", Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
     Reacting to Hegseth remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told media on Tuesday that by calling China a “threat” and using it as a pretext, the US has been instigating ideological antagonism, and stoking division and confrontation.
     On the Taiwan question, "we urge certain people in the US to give up the illusion of using Taiwan to contain China”, abide by the one-China principle and honour the commitment made by the US on Taiwan-related issues, he said
     Meanwhile, Taiwan's Presidential Office in a statement "strongly condemned" the PLA's military exercises, while its defence ministry said it deployed military aircraft, vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the Chinese threats.
     China has continued to "engage in military provocations and gray-zone tactics" in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, the President’s Office said, adding that those activities had "undermined regional security and stability".
     The Taiwanese Defence Ministry said it detected 13 Chinese warships, 71 military aircraft and four coast guard vessels. The aircraft carrier Shandong-led fleet was deployed in the western Pacific about 400 km from the southern tip of Taiwan, it said.
     According to Shi, these drills mainly focus on sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade of key areas and sea lanes to test the joint operation capabilities of the troops.
     The drills serve as a stern warning and forceful deterrent against "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and are a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China's sovereignty and national unity, Shi said.
     In Tuesday’s drills, the PLA deployed advanced weapons and equipment, including Type 054A frigate, DF-15 ballistic missile, YJ-21 hypersonic missiles, and Y-20 transport aircraft.
     The YJ-21 missile's appearance in the drills by the PLA indicates a high level of combat realism, the state-run Global Times reported.
     The participation of the YJ-21 in the joint exercises around Taiwan Island has a profound significance, military affairs expert Zhang Junshe told the Global Times.
     The missile's participation showed that the drills by the PLA are very close to actual combat, and the participating troops are ready to fight any time, he said.
     China claims Taiwan as part of its mainland.
     The exercises are also a stern warning to separatist forces attempting to undermine peace in the Taiwan Strait, and a necessary action to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, China’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said.
     "'Taiwan independence' means war, and pursuing 'Taiwan independence' means pushing the people of Taiwan into a perilous situation," Zhu said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)