The Chinese military launched surprise, large-scale drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan today, weeks after Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te announced measures to counter China’s influence and espionage.
David Silbey, a Cornell University professor of history specializing in military history, defense policy, and battlefield analysis, says that the drills serve three military purposes.
Silbey says: “First is to intimidate the Taiwanese by reminding them of China’s substantial military power. This is a visible assertion of China’s ability to send military forces right up to Taiwan’s borders. Second is to practice. Amphibious assaults are among the most difficult and complicated military operations going, and China can’t just build the ships and then charge over to Taiwan, they have to run drills and get experience in all the things that such an assault would require. Third is setting up such drills as cover for an invasion. If the Chinese are planning to launch an assault under cover of a training exercise, they need to prepare for that by having regular real training exercises so that the invasion cover doesn’t look odd.
“The flip side of all this is that both the U.S. and Taiwan were watching this carefully, and picking up all the Chinese electromagnetic emissions (radar, radio, electronic warfare devices) which would give them useful intelligence on Chinese capabilities in this area. It’s like a football team running its plays in sight of its upcoming opponent.”
For interviews contact Ellen Leventry, (607) 882-5833, eel2@cornell.edu.
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