China's 'Taiwan Encirclement Drill' Ends on 24th... Taiwan Calls It a "Provocation to International Order"

111 Military Aircraft and Dozens of Naval Vessels Mobilized
Training Conducted for the First Time in 9 Months Since August Last Year

China's military 'Taiwan encirclement exercise' concluded as scheduled on the 24th.

According to foreign media reports on the 25th, China's state broadcaster CCTV's military channel 'CCTV-7' announced that the 'Joint Lijian-2024A Exercise' was successfully completed the previous night.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The exercise took place over two days starting on the 23rd, just three days after Lai Ching-te's inauguration as Taiwan's president. It was conducted simultaneously in eight locations across five major areas, including the west, north, and east of Taiwan's main island as well as its outer islands, effectively surrounding Taiwan.

The Chinese military described the exercise as a strong punishment against Taiwan independence separatist forces seeking independence and a stern warning against interference and provocations by external forces.

According to AFP, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense reported that during the exercise, the Chinese military deployed 111 military aircraft and dozens of naval vessels. A map showing the exercise areas released by CCTV indicates that the drills were conducted closer to Taiwan's main island compared to previous Chinese military exercises.

This encirclement exercise by the Chinese military is the first in about nine months since Lai, then Taiwan's vice president, visited the United States in August last year.

Previously, in August two years ago, China conducted large-scale military exercises encircling Taiwan in response to then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. In April last year, China also carried out 'Taiwan encirclement' exercises citing the meeting between then Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as the reason.

Taiwan condemned the Chinese military's recent exercise as a "blatant provocation against the international order," reported Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA). Guo Yahui, spokesperson for Taiwan's Presidential Office, stated in a press release, "We hope China will cease all forms of political and military threats against Taiwan."