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🇸🇬 Singapore /Conflict & Security

Taiwan says ‘unpredictable’ China is tightening air and sea control nearby

From The Straits Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Taiwan’s defence ministry said China was strengthening control of the airspace and waters around the Taiwan Strait through patrols, missions and military exercises.
  • The report said Chinese drills increasingly focused on jointly blockading and controlling Taiwan’s external sea lanes, although Beijing lacks the capability for an amphibious assault.
  • Taipei also said China was studying the use of low-cost drone swarms and problems involving ammunition, air defence, industrial mobilisation and allied cooperation in recent wars.

Taiwan says Beijing is tightening its grip on the air and sea around the island while becoming harder to predict. The assessment appeared in Taipei’s annual review of China’s military threat, which cited an "unprecedented" purge of senior Chinese military officers as a reason for rising uncertainty in Beijing’s decision-making.

continues to escalate

— Taiwan defence ministryThe ministry used the phrase to describe the regional security situation in its annual threat review.

The report said China’s recent exercises around Taiwan have focused on "joint blockade/control" of the island’s external sea lanes. Chinese aircraft, naval ships and coast guard vessels are used to create what Taiwan described as favourable conditions for a possible invasion, including cutting external transport routes and forming an encirclement.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said China was strengthening control around the Taiwan Strait through regular combat-readiness patrols, operations farther out to sea and other exercises. It said Beijing’s purpose was to destroy Taiwan’s command-and-control systems and air-defence capacity in the early stages of a conflict.

rising unpredictability

— Taiwan defence ministryThe ministry linked the phrase to changes in China’s military leadership and decision-making.

The assessment also described China’s efforts to learn from other wars. It said Chinese training and exercises incorporated lessons from Ukraine and the Gulf, including the effectiveness of swarms of inexpensive drones in the Russia-Ukraine war. China was also studying difficulties the United States faced in its war against Iran, including rapid ammunition use, pressure on air-defence interception systems, industrial mobilisation and fragile cooperation among allies.

joint blockade/control

— Taiwan defence ministryThe report’s description of the focus of China’s recent exercises around Taiwan.

Taiwan rejects Beijing’s claim to sovereignty and says the island’s people must decide its future. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has not renounced the use of force. The United States supplies Taiwan with weapons while maintaining ambiguity over whether it would intervene militarily. China’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

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

— Taiwan defence ministryThe report listed problems it said China was studying from the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
About this summary

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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