The Guardian-China testing ability to seize power in second day of military drills around Taiwan
May 24, 2024 3 min 552 words
西方媒体的报道常常带着有色眼镜看待中国，这一篇报道也是如此。这篇报道主要内容是：中国在台湾周边海域进行第二天的军事演习，声称这是对台湾新总统就职的回应。中国国防部表示，演习旨在测试中国军队“夺取权力”和占领关键地区的能力，以达到最终吞并台湾的目的。西方情报机构称，中国最高领导人习近平已命令解放军在2027年前具备入侵台湾的能力。 评论：这篇报道存在明显偏见，其用词和观点都有误导之嫌。首先，“惩罚”“吞并”“入侵”等词语带有强烈的负面色彩，渲染了中国对台湾的军事威胁。然而，中国一直致力于推动两岸和平统一，军事演习是针对“台独”分裂势力和外部势力干涉的震慑，而非针对台湾人民。其次，报道中提及的“2027年入侵台湾”的说法是西方情报机构的猜测，并非中国官方表态。中国一直强调和平统一是首选，但也不放弃使用武力，这是针对外部干涉和“台独”势力的警告，不代表中国有立即入侵台湾的企图。再者，报道中没有提及台湾问题是中国内政，台湾是中国领土不可分割的一部分，这是在一个中国原则基础上的国际共识。西方媒体的报道往往忽略这一点，片面强调中国对台湾带来的所谓“威胁”，有误导读者之嫌。
China has begun its second day of military drills targeting Taiwan, in what it says is punishment for “separatist acts” after the inauguration of its new president on Monday.
The exercises, which involve Chinese military units from the air force, rocket force, navy, army, and coast guard, were announced suddenly on Thursday morning, with maps showing five approximate target areas in the sea surrounding Taiwan’s main island. Other areas also targeted Taiwan’s offshore islands, which are close to the Chinese mainland.
China’s defence ministry said the drills on Friday were testing its military’s ability to “seize power” and occupy key areas, in line with Beijing’s ultimate goal of annexing Taiwan. Taiwan’s government and people reject the prospect of Chinese rule, but China’s ruler Xi Jinping has not renounced the use of force to take the island. Western intelligence has claimed Xi has told the People’s Liberation Army to be capable of an invasion by 2027.
On Thursday afternoon the PLA said fighter jets carrying live missiles had successfully carried out “mock strikes” on Taiwanese military targets, but so far the drills are smaller in scale than those held in 2022 and 2023. Beijing did not declare any no-fly zones, and no live fire was used except in practice areas on the Chinese mainland, according to Taiwan’s military.
The ministry said China sent 19 warships around Taiwan’s perimeter, 16 marine police vessels and 49 warplanes, of which 35 crossed the median line, the de facto border between China and Taiwan.
In response, Taiwan scrambled jets, put its forces on alert, and moved anti-ship missile systems to coastal areas.
From a military base in Taoyuan on Thursday, Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te said he had confidence in the military to protect Taiwan.
China’s official state news agency Xinhua said on Friday the drills were “legitimate, timely and entirely necessary, as ‘Taiwan independence’ acts in any form cannot be tolerated”.
Lai was inaugurated as Taiwan’s president on Monday, after winning democratic elections in January. Lai and his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, are from the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party (DPP), which Beijing considers separatist.
In his inauguration speech Lai affirmed Taiwan’s sovereignty, promised to defend it, and urged China to end hostilities. Any speech by a president belonging to the DPP, short of capitulating to Beijing’s position that Taiwan belongs to China, was likely to provoke an angry response.
A Xinhua editorial said his speech was a “serious provocation” and China’s countermeasures were “inevitable”.
“Lai has deliberately incited hatred toward the mainland and escalated confrontation and hostility across the Strait,” it said.
In an editorial, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist party, the People’s Daily, said it was a shared belief among Chinese people that the territory of the nation cannot be divided, the country cannot be thrown into chaos and its people cannot be separated.
A conflict over Taiwan would be catastrophic, and likely involve other countries in the region, and beyond. In response to the drills, representatives from Japan, the US, South Korea, and Australia called for calm. Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, warned that “the risk of an accident, and potential escalation, is growing”.