\n<\/p>\n
China launched military exercises pressing in on Taiwan on Tuesday, sending warships and fighter planes in what Beijing said was a warning to the island democracy\u2019s president, Lai Ching-te, after he called China a \u201cforeign hostile force.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chinese land, navy, air and missile forces would \u201capproach close\u201d to Taiwan and practice \u201cseizure of overall control, strikes on sea and land targets, and the blockade and control of key areas and lanes\u201d at sea, Senior Col. Shi Yi, a spokesman for the People\u2019s Liberation Army regional command that oversees Taiwan, said in a statement issued<\/a> on Chinese state-run media.<\/p>\n Sometimes, China\u2019s military does not spell out why it holds drills. This time, officials and state media reports were clear: \u201cThis is firm punishment for the Lai Ching-te administration\u2019s rampant \u2018pro-independence\u2019 provocations,\u201d Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese government\u2019s office on Taiwanese affairs, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ms. Zhu singled out a speech by Mr. Lai<\/a> on March 13 in which he described China as a \u201cforeign hostile force\u201d and laid out 17 measures that Mr. Lai said would combat deepening Chinese subversion and spying in Taiwan. Those included restoring military tribunals for cases against military personnel who spy and strengthening oversight of cultural, political and religious exchanges with China. Beijing says that Taiwan is its territory, and that it will eventually absorb the island, by force if Chinese leaders deem that necessary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Later on Tuesday, Taiwan\u2019s Ministry of National Defense tallied the Chinese military weaponry that had approached Taiwan by early afternoon: 71 sorties by military aircraft, including drones, and 21 navy ships ranged around the island, including a group accompanying the Shandong aircraft carrier that was about 220 nautical miles east of Taiwan.<\/p>\n None of the Chinese ships or planes crossed a boundary of 24 nautical miles around Taiwan, ministry officials told reporters. The Chinese Coast Guard also announced that it had sent ships<\/a> on \u201claw enforcement\u201d patrol around two groups of islands controlled by Taiwan.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, the Chinese Communist Party is trying to enhance the effectiveness of its military displays and intimidation by deliberately sending ships within our vicinity, creating opportunities for close armed encounters,\u201d said Chieh Chung, a researcher at Taiwan\u2019s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, an organization in Taipei supported by the defense ministry.<\/p>\n But despite Beijing\u2019s fiery language and sizable military display, experts said that the exercises appeared intended to intimidate Taiwan without tipping over into a wider confrontation. Mr. Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party deny that Taiwan is a part of China \u2014 a key premise of Beijing\u2019s claim that the island is its territory \u2014 and officials in Beijing have already vehemently denounced Mr. Lai\u2019s recent speech. On Tuesday, Chinese media published cartoons<\/a> that depicted Mr. Lai as a parasitic grub.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s trying to get in closer to Taiwan to exert more psychological pressure,\u201d Su Tzu-yun, another researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said of China\u2019s latest exercises.<\/p>\n While Beijing has linked the exercises to Mr. Lai\u2019s comments, Mr. Su and other experts said, China\u2019s leaders also appeared to be sending an implicit message to the Trump administration. Mr. Lai has sought to maintain U.S. support for Taiwan during President Trump\u2019s term, including by promising to raise its military spending to more than 3 percent of the island\u2019s economic output this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe publicity around the exercise likely also has the U.S. in mind \u2014 they want to persuade the Trump administration that Lai is a troublemaker and to deter the U.S. from maintaining high levels of support to Taiwan,\u201d said Amanda Hsiao<\/a>, an analyst for the Eurasia Group who monitors Chinese foreign policy and China-Taiwan tensions.<\/p>\n The exercises came days after the U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, visited Tokyo to discuss strengthening military ties with Japan. Mr. Hegseth said there that the Trump administration would focus on countering Chinese power, including its efforts to squeeze Taiwan.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica is committed to sustaining robust, ready and credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait,\u201d Mr. Hegseth said in a news conference<\/a> with Japan\u2019s defense minister, Gen Nakatani. Mr. Hegseth has also issued internal guidelines in the Pentagon that say U.S. forces must focus on deterring China from trying to seize Taiwan by force, The Washington Post reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Still, China may not have an appetite right now for extended military exercises that could deepen the divisions between the Trump administration and China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping. Mr. Xi is already squaring off with Mr. Trump over additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that were imposed last month<\/a>, with possibly more tariffs to come this week<\/a>. The official Chinese statements about the latest exercises did not mention the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cChina is definitely interested in not showing weakness,\u201d Wen-Ti Sung<\/a>, a researcher in Taiwan and a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council\u2019s Global China Hub, said of Mr. Xi\u2019s approach to the Trump administration. \u201cBut China will respond with just enough firmness to make sure that an off ramp for it still remains.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n