Tensions are once again ratcheting up in the Taiwan Strait, with China launching military drills encircling Taiwan just days after the democracy swore in a new leader long loathed by Beijing. <\/p>\n
The exercises began early Thursday, in what China described as \u201cpunishment\u201d for \u201cseparatist acts\u201d \u2013 alluding to the election and inauguration of the self-governing island\u2019s new President Lai Ching-te. <\/p>\n
Though relations between the two sides have been steadily worsening in recent years, this latest escalation marks a significant test for Taiwan\u2019s new leader, whose ruling party has championed democracy in the face of growing threats from its authoritarian superpower neighbor. <\/p>\n
China\u2019s ruling Communist Party says Taiwan is part of its territory, despite never having controlled it, and has vowed to take the island, by force if necessary. And it has become much more bellicose under Chinese leader Xi Jinping. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know. <\/p>\n
The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) said it launched joint military drills involving the army, navy, air force and rocket force in areas around Taiwan early Thursday morning. <\/p>\n
The drills are being conducted in the Taiwan Strait \u2013 a narrow body of water separating the self-ruling island with mainland China \u2013 as well as north, south and east of Taiwan. <\/p>\n
They are also taking place in areas around Taiwan\u2019s outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin, located just off China\u2019s southeastern coast, the command said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Naval Colonel Li Xi, spokesperson for the command, called the exercises \u201ca strong punishment for the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces and a serious warning against interference and provocation by external forces.\u201d <\/p>\n
China\u2019s military drills are often as much about playing to a domestic audience as signaling intentions internationally. Chinese state media heavily covered Thursday\u2019s drills while the military also posted footage of one of its vessels on social media. The exercises subsequently went viral on China\u2019s heavily regulated internet. <\/p>\n
Taiwan\u2019s Defense Ministry said in a statement it had dispatched sea, air and ground forces to respond to China\u2019s drills. It expressed regret to \u201csuch irrational provocations and actions that undermine regional peace and stability.\u201d <\/p>\n
The island\u2019s presidential office said in a statement that it was \u201cconfident and capable of defending national security,\u201d accusing China of \u201cusing unilateral military provocation to threaten Taiwan\u2019s democracy and freedom.\u201d <\/p>\n
The most obvious answer is Lai\u2019s inauguration on Monday. <\/p>\n
Lai\u2019s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), now in power for a historic third term, views Taiwan as a de facto sovereign nation with a distinct Taiwanese identity. <\/p>\n
Ahead of Taiwan\u2019s elections back in January, Beijing had warned that a Lai victory could inflame tensions and spark conflict \u2013 repeatedly framing the vote as a choice between \u201cpeace and war.\u201d <\/p>\n
Taiwanese voters dismissed those warnings, returning the DPP to power \u2013 although two opposition parties that favor closer ties with China now have a majority in parliament. <\/p>\n
China\u2019s government and state media regularly rebuke Lai, calling him a dangerous separatist, \u201ctroublemaker\u201d and \u201cwar maker,\u201d while rejecting his repeated offer of talks. <\/p>\n
Their vehement dislike of Lai is rooted in his political past, as well as Beijing\u2019s refusal to deal directly with a huge swathe of Taiwan\u2019s leaders. <\/p>\n
The 64-year-old former doctor and political veteran was once an open supporter of Taiwan independence \u2013 a red line for Beijing. <\/p>\n
His views have tempered over the years, and he now says he favors the current status quo, saying there is \u201cno plan or need\u201d to declare independence since the island is \u201calready an independent sovereign country.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Beijing has never forgiven him for those early comments \u2013 making its stance clear with the drills on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Lai, too, has set the tone for his new administration\u2019s approach to China \u2013 using his inaugural speech on Monday to declare that a \u201cglorious era of Taiwan\u2019s democracy has arrived,\u201d and reiterating a determination to defend its sovereignty. <\/p>\n
He also called on Beijing to cease its \u201cintimidation\u201d of Taiwan and respect that its people want to decide their own destiny. <\/p>\n
The bloody Chinese Civil War ended with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) taking power in the mainland, establishing the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing in 1949. <\/p>\n
The defeated Nationalist Party fled to Taiwan, moving the seat of their Republic of China (ROC) government from the mainland to Taipei. <\/p>\n
Both proclaimed themselves the sole rightful government of the entire Chinese territory. <\/p>\n
In recent years, Taiwan has downplayed its territorial claims over mainland China, and is today a vibrant democracy, with its own military, currency, constitution and elected government. <\/p>\n
But it is not recognized as an independent country by most governments in the world. <\/strong>Over the decades it has become increasingly isolated diplomatically \u2013 with an increasing number of governments switching their diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. But unofficial diplomatic ties with many Western nations have in fact been bolstered in recent years, in part thanks to China\u2019s sabre-rattling. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, under Xi, China has become increasingly assertive in foreign policy and grown more authoritarian at home. <\/p>\n China has cut official communication with Taiwan since the the DPP took office in 2016, and has ramped up economic, military and diplomatic pressure on the island. <\/p>\n At the same time, ties between Taipei and Washington have become more robust, with increased arms sales and high-level political engagement under Lai\u2019s popular predecessor Tsai Ing-wen. This has infuriated Beijing, spurring it to unleash more pressure on Taiwan and sending cross-strait relations on a downward spiral. <\/p>\n The US formally switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 \u2013 but has long trod a delicate middle path. <\/p>\n In what is known as the \u201cOne China\u201d policy, Washington recognizes the People\u2019s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China; it also acknowledges Beijing\u2019s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never accepted the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s claim of sovereignty over the island. <\/p>\n The US maintains close unofficial ties with Taiwan, which have been strengthened in recent years. It is bound by law to provide the democratic island with the means to defend itself, and supplies the island with defensive weaponry. <\/p>\n American lawmakers regularly visit Taiwan and have supported legislation to bolster US support for the island and its defensive capabilities. <\/p>\n But it has historically remained deliberately vague on whether it would defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese invasion, a policy known as \u201cstrategic ambiguity.\u201d <\/p>\n After the island\u2019s election in January, the US sent an bipartisan delegation to Taiwan, where they met with Lai and Tsai \u2013 and promised that American support for Taiwan will continue no matter who wins the upcoming US election. <\/p>\n Beijing on Tuesday also announced sanctions against former US House Representative Mike Gallagher, who led that delegation, citing his \u201cremarks and actions\u201d that \u201cinterfere\u201d in China\u2019s internal affairs. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tensions are once again ratcheting up in the Taiwan Strait, with China launching military drills encircling Taiwan just days after the democracy swore in a new leader long loathed by Beijing. The exercises began early Thursday, in what China described as \u201cpunishment\u201d for \u201cseparatist acts\u201d \u2013 alluding to the election and inauguration of the self-governing <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Where does the US stand in this?<\/h2>\n