A senior legislator from the island nation claims that China appears to be preparing to “launch a war” against Taiwan.
Beijing has issued a warning, claiming that recent exercises simulating the island nation’s encirclement were conducted as a “serious warning” to politicians who support independence.
Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu stated in an interview with CNN: “Look at the military drills, as well as their rhetoric – they seem to be attempting to get ready to start a war against Taiwan.
“The Taiwanese government looks at the Chinese military threat as something that cannot be accepted and we condemn it.”
The three days of large-scale air and sea exercises named Joint Sword that ended on Monday were a response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US house speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary and regularly sends ships and warplanes into airspace and waters near the island.
Such missions have grown more frequent in recent years, accompanied by increasingly bellicose language from the administration of Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.
Any conflict between the sides could draw in the US, Taiwan’s closest ally, which is required by law to consider all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern”.
China has kept up military pressure against Taiwan despite the formal conclusion of the military drills.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s ministry of national defence said it tracked 35 flights by People’s Liberation Army warplanes within the previous 24 hours, as well as eight navy vessels in the waters surrounding the island.
While on Tuesday, President Xi inspected China’s Southern Theatre Command, according to state media.
On his visit, Mr Xi reportedly said it was necessary to deepen military training and preparation, speed up transformation and construction, and comprehensively raise the level of modernisation of the armed forces.
Though the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command would be the lead force in any potential invasion of Taiwan, the Southern Theatre Command would likely have a significant backup role in any such attack.
The vast majority of Taiwan’s population favours maintaining the current de-facto independent status, while the island’s president, Ms Tsai, has said there is no need for a formal declaration since the democracy is already an independent nation.
Despite that, China – which does not recognise Taiwan’s government institutions and has cut off contact with Ms Tsai’s administration – routinely accuses her of plotting formal independence with outside backing.
When China refers to outside help for Taiwan, it is usually thought to mean the US.
“External forces are intensifying their endeavour of containing China with Taiwan as a tool,” Ms Zhu said.
She also repeated China’s assertion that its military threats are “targeted at Taiwan’s independence separatist activities and interference from external forces, and by no means at our compatriots in Taiwan”.
What that means in practical terms is not clear, although Beijing has long exploited political divisions within Taiwanese society, which boasts a robust democracy and strong civil liberties.
The Chinese military issued a threat as it concluded the exercises, saying its troops “can fight at any time to resolutely smash any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ and foreign interference attempts”.