China launches military exercises around Taiwan, calling its president a “parasite”
China conducted military exercises on the northern, southern and eastern coasts of Taiwan on Tuesday as a “sharp warning” to separatism, calling Taiwan President Lai Ching-te a “parasite” and Taiwan sent warships to respond to China’s navy to approach its navy.
The exercises were not officially named last year’s different exercises from the War Game, and he was conducted after a visit to Lai’s Chinese rhetoric and followed a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Asia, during which he repeatedly criticized Beijing.
Beijing’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that China’s military deployed ships, aircraft and artillery to block the island, strike and maritime targets, and air interception “test the coordination of the troops in combat.”
This is not the first time China simulates an attack, or puts Taiwan in lockdown. Last May, three days after Lai took office, Chinese troops staged a war game to simulate full control of the so-called First Island chain and conducted live missile exercises.
China regards democratically managed Taiwan as its own territory and Lai as a “separatist.” In the video announced by the exercise, the Eastern Theater Command called him an English “parasite” and portrayed him as a green bug carved with chopsticks on Taiwan.
The Taiwan government condemned the exercise, and the presidential office said that China is “widely recognized by the international community as a troublemaker” and that the government has confidence and ability to defend itself.
The Taiwan government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the people of the island can determine their future.
Two senior Taiwanese officials told Reuters that more than 10 Chinese warships have approached Taiwan’s 24 nautical miles (44 kilometers) continuity zone, and Taiwan has sent its own warships to respond.
Officials said Taiwan has not found any fires from the Chinese military.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the exercises “are a legitimate and necessary action to defend national sovereignty and protect national unity.”
“China’s unification is an unstoppable trend – it will happen, and it must happen,” spokesman Guo Jiakun said in a regular press conference on Tuesday.
Taiwan dispatched warships
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement that China’s Shandong Airlines Carrier Group entered the island’s response zone on Monday, adding that it had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated the land-based missile system.
The training was conducted after Hegseth left the region after visiting Japan and the Philippines, who criticized China and said Japan was “essential” to dealing with Chinese aggression.
Taiwan’s security officials told Reuters he cited internal assessments that Beijing needs to avoid any “perceived confrontation” with Washington ahead of the U.S.-China trade negotiations, so Taiwan has become an excuse.
“Taiwan is their best excuse. That’s why they chose to launch such military exercises immediately after the U.S. Secretary of Defense left Asia,” the official said.
The U.S. Embassy in Taiwan In fact, the United States will continue to support the island.
“China once again shows that this is not a responsible actor and there is no problem putting the safety and prosperity of the region at risk,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“closure”
After the exercise was announced, the Chinese military quickly released a series of propaganda videos depicting Chinese warships and fighter jets surrounding Taiwan, with Taipei’s sights shooting from above, and before the target exploded, the Tajis in Taipei shot into the sky.
A video accompanied by a poster titled “Close” and showing exercises by Chinese troops around the island was posted on the Weibo of the Eastern Theater Command.
Next is a video titled “Shell” depicting President Lai spawning eggs on the WeChat page of the Eastern Theater Command.
The animation says: “Parasite poisoning Taiwan Island. Parasite hollow island.
Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo said the remarks were not conducive to peace and “expressed provocativeness.”
The third video “Sundue Demons and Vanquish Edils” features Sun Wukong, the magical monkey king in Ming Dynasty Epic’s epic “Travel to the West” as he is portrayed in the “Black Myth: Wukong” hit video game.
It begins with the video’s title flashing on the screen while the Chinese mythical warrior rides on the clouds and then cuts into the footage of the Chinese fighter.
The fourth poster, titled “Encircling Forward”, was released later that day, with the Chinese characters covering the island, with ships and bomber aircraft located in its northwest and southeast.
Taiwan’s Koo told reporters that PLA should first focus on solving its corruption problems rather than undermining peace and stability in the region.
Over the past few years, the Chinese military has experienced a thorough anti-corruption purge, and former Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu was removed in October 2024.
China’s Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to requests to comment on Koo’s remarks.
Taiwan security sources said on the grounds of internal intelligence assessment that China is trying to be busy with the military by training, a way to distract and prevent its soldiers from discussing corruption in essentially suppressing each other.
The Chinese Coast Guard said it was also participating in the exercise, saying it was mocking “inspection, interception, interception and detention operations against unnecessary ships” to demonstrate its exercise of “legal jurisdiction” over Taiwan.
The Global Times, owned by the People’s Daily of the Communist Party of China, said the exercise did not get the code name to show that the island’s Chinese military power “has become a normal practice” and quoted Zhang Zhi of the National Defense University.
The article on the Weixin social media page of the paper adds: “In recent years, through a series of exercises held in the Taiwan Strait, PLA has strongly enhanced its ability to prepare and fight for war.”
