‘2-day’ military training around Taiwan reduces compared to May, to avoid raising bilateral issue before US presidential election
‘Beijing=Park Se-hee correspondent [email protected]’
China ended the large-scale military training surrounding Taiwan in just 13 hours on the 14th. It is interpreted as a consideration of the potential diplomatic burden if the Taiwan issue becomes prominent with the U.S. presidential election about 20 days away.
According to the announcement by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and local reports, the ‘Joint Sword 2024B’ training conducted in a manner surrounding Taiwan started at 5 a.m. on the 14th and ended at 6 p.m. the same day. It ended in less than a day, significantly shorter than the ‘Joint Sword 2024A’ training in May, which lasted for two days. Analyzing this, it was suggested that at the current point before the U.S. presidential election, China does not want to highlight the Taiwan issue. A China-U.S. relations expert in Beijing said, “It is necessary for China to send a clear message regarding the core interest of Taiwan, but it is burdensome for the Taiwan issue to be emphasized before the U.S. presidential election. It seems that China is contemplating between these two issues.”
However, China reiterated its intention not to give up the use of force even after the training ends. Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said, “We sincerely pursue peaceful reunification, but we will not promise to give up the use of force. We will not leave any room for Taiwan’s independence.”
China also announced penalties for two officials related to Taiwan’s reserve forces training facility on that day. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office mentioned the ‘Heishung Academy,’ a private reserve forces training institution in Taiwan, and announced that Chen Boyang, a member of the Taiwan Legislative Yuan, who is a co-founder of the Heishung Academy, and former chairman Cao Xingcheng of the 2nd largest semiconductor company in Taiwan, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) that financially supported the academy, would be punished for independence activities.