TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China's defense ministry Friday broke its silence on the large-scale military exercises it held earlier in the week with an ambiguous answer and a Sun Tzu quote.
It issued a statement acknowledging that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) had transited through Hawaii and Guam last week. It also cited Taiwan's defense ministry as saying that China had implemented restricted airspace zones and the number of warships it deployed around Taiwan was “bigger than ever before.”
The Chinese ministry's spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said that it is the PLA's mission to protect national sovereignty. He then cited Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu's quote about the importance of adaptability in war: "As water has no constant form, there are in warfare no constant conditions.”
Wu said the PLA would decide whether and when to launch military exercises based on need and the situation on the ground. He said that regardless of whether a military drill is launched or not, the PLA would fight “Taiwan independence.”
Defense Ministry Spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said in a Tuesday press briefing that China's naval deployment, ranging from Japan's southern islands to the South China Sea, was larger than in 2022.
Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) on Tuesday said drills are a PLA attempt to simulate a blockade on Taiwan and extend forces outward to achieve its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) objectives. At the same time, it has formed two naval "walls" east of Taiwan to convey the message of “turning the Taiwan Strait into an inland sea" to lower people's vigilance, per Liberty Times.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China's military drills have “unilaterally undermined peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, unjustifiably raised regional tensions, and interfered with international shipping and trade." The ministry called on Beijing to stop its military intimidation.
