China deploys army, naval, and air force units around Taiwan for military exercises

China has moved army, naval, and air force units into positions around Taiwan for what it says are military exercises. In response, Taiwan has mobilized its own forces and says it will defend democracy. China's drills begin 11 days after the U.S. announced a package of more than $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, one of its largest ever weapons packages for the island. The sale drew anger from Beijing, which said it would take forceful measures. Regarding the Chinese military exercises, the Ministry of Transportation wants to express its position. We strongly protest and condemn their arrogant and unreasonable actions, which will inevitably affect the safety of our air and sea transportation. And there's been reaction from residents out of Taipei as well. I think China's goal is, as they said, keep the island, not the people. They just want to save face by claiming Taiwan as part of their own country. But Taiwanese people don't see it that way. We are who we are, and they are who they are. The two sides of the strait are completely unsubordinate to each other. We are our own country. I think these drills are just meant to scare us, to intimidate us. Similar drills have happened before. As ordinary citizens, I think all we can do is to take care of ourselves, do our jobs well and live our lives well. The political side of things can only be handled by Taiwan's current government and how they choose to respond. All right, we want to show you live pictures right now. This is the Hsinchu Air Base in Taiwan, where clearly the Taiwanese side is wanting to have their own show of force in response. As we look at these pictures, let's go live now to Beijing, where Katrina Yu is keeping an eye on all of this. Katrina, look, this is clearly a step up from your average, normal military drill. What message do you think this is meant to send? I think Beijing is sending quite a simple message, and that is that China is dead serious about wanting to take back Taiwan, that it has the capabilities to do so, despite whatever or whomever may want to intervene. Now, we had China's People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command about at 7.30 this morning announced that it was conducting these drills. It's surrounding the entire island, and it says the reason is to warn Taiwanese separatists against any action. Now, this isn't the first time large-scale drills have been taking place, that Beijing has done this surrounding Taiwan. It's been really ramping up these war games since 2022. This is the sixth time they're taking place, and the last time was in April. However, what makes this different is that this is the first time China's People's Liberation Army has said that they're really doing these drills, and the aim is to deter any foreign intervention. Now, this didn't come as a huge surprise to Taiwan, actually. Taiwan's intelligence agency actually did flag about three weeks ago that it was expecting some large-scale drills by Beijing, and it's usual that China will have these sorts of show of force in response to something. We had, in November, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takeichi tell Japanese Parliament that she would consider any Chinese attack on Taiwan a reason to possibly warrant Japanese military intervention. We've also had, just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Congress confirm that it would be selling about $11 billion worth of weaponry to Taiwan, which includes missiles, howitzers, and a raft of military software. These two things infuriated Beijing, and these are things that Beijing said quite clearly that they consider these things to be provocations. And Katrina, look, this is obviously happening right on Taiwan's doorstep. I wonder, from the shores of Taiwan, are people there likely to be able to see or hear these drills, and what has been the official response from the Taiwanese side? China has called this drill Justice Mission 2025, and they've actually released a map of how they will be surrounding the island. So they'll be surrounding Taiwan by five different points, and some of these blocks of ocean that they will be occupying are quite close to the island, up to 15 kilometers close. So it is possible that ordinary people in Taiwan will be able to see and hear these drills going on, and if so, that won't be by accident. That will be by design. Obviously, Beijing does not only want to intimidate the Taiwanese government, they also want to instill fear into ordinary Taiwanese people. Now, Taipei has said that they condemn these drills, that these pose a threat to regional peace and stability, and that they will do whatever they can to defend the island's democracy and freedom. They've also initiated their own sort of show of force. They've scrambled several Coast Guard vessels to these areas, and they've also released videos showing a variety of weapons, including rocket systems and missiles, capable of hitting China's eastern coast. And look, this is a drill, of course, but given that the Chinese side will be live-firing around Taiwan, and that Taiwanese are mobilizing troops to rehearse their own response, surely, Katrina, there is also a risk of, say, unintended consequences, or some misread signals. Are there measures in place to make sure that doesn't happen? Definitely, there's always a risk that something could happen that could make the situation spiral out of control, but I think the fact that Taiwan's intelligence agency was prepared for this, they did know weeks ago that this would happen, also that China's liberation army, they did announce in a statement that this was a drill. I think both sides here are really signaling that they do understand that this is just war games. And China, it is true. It's a good question. Xi Jinping has made it clear that he does intend to take Taiwan back by force, if necessary. But I also think, considering the local situation here in China, the economy struggling, and also China really not achieving the level of force or the level of defense achievement that it wants. It doesn't have parity, for example, with U.S. military forces, and the U.S., of course, has said that it will possibly support Taiwan. It hasn't made that clear, but they do have a defense agreement with Taiwan. So I think China overall will not take Taiwan by force unless it knows it can be absolutely sure of a victory. And most analysts that we've spoken to believe that that won't happen anytime soon. Although, of course, they will continue to send this message that they are intent on doing so sometime in the future. All right. Katrina, you live for us there in Beijing, monitoring some very contentious military drills off of Taiwan. Katrina, thank you. Thank you. Stay ahead.