{"id":45893,"date":"2017-12-27T20:26:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T20:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/27\/threats-and-military-exercises-fuel-tension-between-china-and-taiwan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:22:35","slug":"threats-and-military-exercises-fuel-tension-between-china-and-taiwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2017\/12\/27\/threats-and-military-exercises-fuel-tension-between-china-and-taiwan\/","title":{"rendered":"Threats and military exercises fuel tension between China and Taiwan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tensions are on the rise between China and Taiwan, the self-ruled, democratic island that China claims as part of its own territory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A senior Chinese official issued a statement this week in a state-run newspaper saying Taiwan would undoubtedly come under Chinese control due to the economic, political, social, cultural and military superiority of the \u201cmotherland,\u201d Reuters reported<\/a>.
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\u201cThe contrast in power across the Taiwan Strait will become wider and wider, and we will have a full, overwhelming strategic advantage over Taiwan,\u201d wrote Liu Junchuan, the liaison head of China\u2019s Taiwan Affairs Office.
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For decades China has threatened to use military force to bring Taiwan, a U.S. ally, under direct control of the Chinese government in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, frequent Chinese military drills around Taiwan have cut off access to the island\u2019s dwindling list of allies, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s exercises come amid a growing suspicion by Beijing that Taiwan\u2019s President Tsai Ing-wen will pursue formal independence, according to a Reuters report Tuesday<\/a>.
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China claims that the military exercises were routine, but Taiwan\u2019s defense ministry issued a report that Chinese bombers and advanced fighter jets have conducted 16 drills directly over or adjacent to Taiwan, Reuters reports.
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\u201cThe Chinese military\u2019s strength continues to grow rapidly,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere have been massive developments in military reforms, combined operations, weapons development and production, the building of overseas military bases and military exercises, and the military threat towards us grows daily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Escalating aggression from Beijing recently prompted Taiwan\u2019s mainland affairs minister, Chang Hsiao-Yueh, to issue a warning of her own, declaring China would suffer significantly if it invaded the island, according to a National Interest report<\/a> Monday.
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\u201cIf they invade Taiwan militarily they will pay a very very high price. And so far I believe that\u2019s the last resort if all the other means [of unification] are failed then finally they will do that,\u201d she said during a briefing in Taipei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions between China and Taiwan spiked earlier this month amid discussions of U.S. ships making port visits to Taiwan, a topic explored in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, according to a Reuters report<\/a>.
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\u201cThe day that a U.S. Navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung [Taiwan\u2019s main deep-water port] is the day that our People\u2019s Liberation Army unifies Taiwan with military force,\u201d said Chinese official Li Kexin.
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