On August 19, 42 Chinese airplanes and eight navy boats were detected in the vicinity of Taiwan, only one day after Taiwanese Vice President William Lai Ching-te returned from a critical trip to the United States.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry spotted 42 PLA (People's Liberation Army) aircraft, 26 of which violated the Taiwan Strait's median line, leading Taiwan's military to respond with aircraft, naval boats, and land-based missile systems.
The Chinese military said it began combined air and sea patrols, as well as navy and air force military drills, surrounding Taiwan as a "stern warning" to the "collusion of Taiwan independence separatists with foreign elements and their provocations."
According to Shi Yi, a spokeswoman for the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command, the drills would evaluate the armed forces' "ability to fight in real combat conditions," according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
“The patrols and exercises are meant to train the coordination of military vessels and airplanes and their ability to seize control of air and sea spaces,” the spokesperson stated.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry responded by criticizing China for its "irrational and provocative behavior," claiming it had caused "substantial damage to regional security."
The ministry stated that relevant forces will be dispatched to respond to the situation.
“Launching a military exercise under pretext this time not only does not help the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait but also highlights its militaristic mentality and confirms the hegemonic nature of military expansion,” the ministry stated.
China's military drills took place on the same day as the presidents of the United States, Japan, and South Korea met for the first time at Camp David, Maryland, to explore strengthening trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
Mr. Lai, the front-runner in Taiwan's presidential elections, had recently returned from Paraguay, where he had attended the president's inauguration.
Taiwan's final diplomatic ally in South America is Paraguay, after Honduras cut ties with the self-governing island republic in favor of China in March, leaving Taiwan with only 13 official diplomatic connections.
During his journey, Mr. Lai stopped in New York and San Francisco. He delivered presentations to the Taiwanese community and visited with officials from the American Institute in Taiwan while in the United States.
The visit was criticized by China's Foreign Ministry, which labeled Mr. Lai a "troublemaker," and reiterated that Beijing "firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the United States and the Taiwan region."
“China is closely following the developments of the situation and will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
According to a top US official, such stops by Taiwanese officials are common, have occurred many times before, and there is no need for Beijing to respond in a "provocative" manner.
“Given the really long distances that people are traveling, these transits really are a way to sort of provide for safety, comfort, convenience and dignity of the traveler,” Sandra Oudkirk, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, told reporters in July.
“On the issue of how the [People’s Republic of China] might or might not react, like I said before, this is a routine occurrence,” said Ms. Oudkirk, the de facto U.S. ambassador in Taiwan.
“There is absolutely no reason for the PRC to use the transit as a pretext for any sort of provocative action,” she added.
Even though Taiwan has never been administered by the CCP and has its own democratic government, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees it as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland by whatever means necessary.
