China makes love and war with Taiwan

CHINA’S WAR games around Taiwan on October 14th broke records for a single-day drill. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) employed 153 aircraft. Taiwan’s defence ministry also spotted 26 ships, including a Chinese aircraft-carrier. As if that were not enough, China’s coastguard carried out an unprecedented patrol around Taiwan’s main island, calling it a “practical action to control Taiwan island in accordance with the law based on the one-China principle”.
This was “punishment”, said China, “for Lai Ching-te’s continuous fabrication of ‘Taiwan independence’ nonsense”. On October 10th Mr Lai, Taiwan’s president, gave a speech to mark the local national day. Chinese state media claimed that he provoked the government in Beijing by “indulging in outright secessionist and blatantly provocative remarks”. Xinhua, the official news service, noted that instead of referring to China as the “the mainland”, which would suggest that China and Taiwan are one country, he referred to it as “China”, as if they were separate.
Mr Lai seems to enjoy throwing rhetorical barbs at China. In September he said that if the country really cared about territorial integrity, it should take back land annexed by Russia in the 19th century. On October 5th he said it was “impossible” for China to be Taiwan’s motherland because the modern incarnation of Taiwan was 38 years older than Communist China. But Mr Lai’s speech on October 10th was relatively restrained. He made no mention of independence, though he said Taiwan would “resist annexation” or “encroachment upon our sovereignty”.
The speech, then, was probably not the main impetus for China’s war games. Taiwanese officials say that China was preparing for the drill before Mr Lai spoke on October 10th. Called Joint Sword-2024B, the exercises were a follow-up to a two-day drill in May, called Joint Sword-2024A. The PLA said version B aimed to test the ability of its army, navy, air force and rocket force to work together. China did not fire any missiles over Taiwan, but it practised blockading Taiwanese ports and assaulting maritime and ground targets.
It is also practising its messaging. China is eager to shape the narrative around its military activity. Its claim to have been provoked by Mr Lai appeared aimed at giving the exercises an air of legitimacy. Were China to actually move against Taiwan, it would probably blame Taiwanese leaders for upsetting the status quo. China is also trying to paint its dealings with Taiwan as a domestic affair. The inclusion of China’s coastguard in the drill seemed like an attempt to reinforce its claim that the waters around Taiwan are actually Chinese.
The coastguard, for its part, sent its own message. It produced an image, shared widely online, of its ships sailing around Taiwan in the shape of a heart, accompanied by the words: “Hi, my sweetheart…Patrolling around you in the shape of love.” That prompted some in Taiwan to compare China to an abusive partner. It seems the coastguard’s public-relations team still needs more practice.
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