Taiwan says 'unpredictable' China strengthens air, sea control nearby
Taiwanese soldiers participate in a live-fire drill during the Han Kuang military exercise in Penghu, Taiwan, Aug. 10. Reuters-Yonhap
TAIPEI — An increasingly unpredictable Beijing is tightening its grip on the air and sea around Taiwan, Taipei said in an annual review of the Chinese threat that also said China was learning lessons from issues faced by the United States in waging war on Iran.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, and sends its military into the waters and airspace around Taiwan on an almost daily basis.
Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. The United States supplies Taiwan with weapons while maintaining a policy of ambiguity about whether it would fight to defend it.
In its annual report on China's military threat, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, Taiwan's defense ministry said the regional security situation "continues to escalate," noting a "rising unpredictability" in China's decision-making due to an "unprecedented" purge of senior military officers.
China's defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The report said China was incorporating lessons learned from the wars in Ukraine and the Gulf into its training and exercises, notably learning about the effectiveness of swarms of cheap drones in the Ukraine-Russia war.
It also listed apparent U.S. problems revealed by the war against Iran, and said China was studying them.
"The U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict highlighted issues such as rapid ammunition consumption, strain on air-defence interception systems, industrial mobilisation, and the fragility of allied cooperation," it said.
U.S. President Donald Trump launched the war against Iran alongside Israel six months ago, initially promising a victory within weeks. Iran has targeted U.S. bases in the Middle East, forcing Washington to expend expensive air defense munitions, although the Trump administration says stocks remain adequate.
On the direct threat to Taiwan, the report said China's exercises around the island in recent years have all centered on "joint blockade/control" of Taiwan's external sea lanes, while Beijing lacks the capability to mount an amphibious assault.
During these exercises, China employs military aircraft and ships as well as coast guard vessels to "shape favourable conditions for an invasion of Taiwan ... in order to cut off our external transportation routes and form an encirclement posture."
China, through its regular combat readiness patrols, missions far out at sea and other exercises is "strengthening its control" over the sea and airspace around the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
"Its purpose is to achieve the destruction of command-and-control and our air defence capacity in the early stage of combat."