China says the drills are a stern warning to pro-independence forces, but they look a lot like a practice run.
Beijing is calling its massive war games around Taiwan this week a stern warning; however, they are also practice, offering insight into how China is thinking about a war for the island.
The big military exercise, «Justice Mission-2025», that kicked off Monday is the latest large-scale Chinese drill aimed at preparing the People’s Liberation Army for action such as bringing combined arms to bear against Taiwan, seizing control of the skies, isolating and assaulting the island, and combating foreign interference.
China mobilized its army, navy, air, and rocket forces for drills around Taiwan with a focus on combat readiness in the sea and air, blocking off key ports and areas, and what it said was «all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain.»
On the southeast side of the island, China’s military has been using bombers and anti-ship missiles against mock maritime targets, clearing the way for the navy’s amphibious assault ships. The exercises, China’s Eastern Theater Command said, are testing how well air and naval forces operate together. There was also an emphasis on eliminating targets at «maximum range», key to cutting risk and keeping hostile forces at arm’s length.
To the north and southwest of Taiwan, the Chinese military’s destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, and drones, together with the long-range rocket forces, have been practicing coordinated seizure and dominance, pursuing training targets on land, at sea, and in the air, the way it might in a real fight.
