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China is likely to launch military drills next week near Taiwan, using Vice President William Lai’s stopovers in the United States as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of an election next year and make them “fear war,” Taiwanese officials said.
The U.S. transits by Lai, who is the front-runner for Taiwan’s presidential vote in January, have already drawn Beijing’s ire. The United States has described the stopovers as routine and no reason for China to take “provocative” action.
Beijing could conduct maneuvers similar to ones it held in April to “militarily intimidate” Taiwan voters as well as countries in the region, said officials briefed on the matter, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The April exercises included practice for blockades in an angry response to a meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy during Tsai’s stopover in Los Angeles.
“It is fairly likely that they could use it as a pretext and announce ‘drills’ around the Taiwan Strait,” said one of the sources, a senior official familiar with Taiwan’s security planning.
“They want to build up the fear of war and make Taiwanese vote in favor of their choice,” the official said.
Lai will stop in New York on Saturday on his way to Paraguay and in San Francisco on Wednesday on his way back to Taiwan. He is going to Paraguay, which retains formal ties with Taiwan, for the inauguration of its new president.
Neither China’s defense ministry nor its Taiwan Affairs Office responded to a request for comment, though the government has repeatedly condemned the visit. China’s ambassador to the U.S. said last month it was his country’s “priority” to stop the visit.
China’s Maritime Safety Administration said on Friday that military exercises would take place off the coast of the eastern city of Ningbo – around 500 km (310 miles) to the north of Taipei – from Saturday to Monday, but did not give details.
