A military analyst said that the drills, conducted by multiple forces of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in five key maritime zones around Taiwan Island on Monday, demonstrate an enhanced capability to block critical ports and cut off external support, sending a clear signal to the separatist forces in Taiwan and external forces.
Meng Xiangqing, a professor at National Defense University of the PLA, made the remarks in an interview with China Media Group on Monday, following an announcement by a spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command on the same day. The spokesperson said that the theater command is dispatching its Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force troops to conduct drills in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, southwest, southeast and east of the Taiwan Island.
The drills will focus on subjects of sea-air combat readiness patrolling, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, blockade on key ports and areas, as well as all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain, said the spokesperson.
"The current drills are organized into five operational areas. This configuration, compared with the military exercises conducted in response to former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2022 visit to Taiwan, signifies three key developments and carries different strategic meaning," said Meng.
"First, it reflects an increasingly close-in encirclement posture, with our naval and aerial assets operating nearer to the island of Taiwan and tightening the encirclement like tightening the noose. What does this imply? It marks a new and substantial breakthrough in our military exercises surrounding the island," he said.
"Second, setting up these five areas highlights that the primary focus of this exercise is the blockade of key ports and strategic areas. While blockading vital ports and areas has always been one of the training objectives in our previous exercises, this time it is given even greater emphasis," said the expert. "For instance, take a look at the exercise areas map, the two northern areas are situated precisely off the coast of Keelung Harbor, essentially declaring a blockade of Keelung. Meanwhile, the two southwestern areas, one of which covers the sea and airspace around Zuoying in Kaohsiung -- Taiwan's most critical maritime route today -- effectively seal off the key ports and major military bases of the separatist forces, creating a situation where they are trapped with no escape. The set-up of these northern and southern areas demonstrates that our blockade today is comprehensive and leaves no blind spots. This means that any lifeline of the forces seeking to split Taiwan from China, including supply lines, falls within our blockade," he said.
"As we all know, Taiwan Island is very small, covering only 36,000 square kilometers, and it severely lacks strategic resources. It depends heavily on imports for oil, natural gas, and coal, with over 97 percent of these resources imported. Its oil reserves last only about a month, and its natural gas reserves can sustain the island for merely around ten days. What does this mean? It means that once its maritime energy supply lines are cut off, its economy will suffer a fatal blow, and its energy supply will be severed. In this sense, our blockade exercise sends a clear signal to the separatist forces: seeking to split Taiwan from China is a dead end. This, I believe, is the second implication of setting up these exercise areas," said Meng.
"Third, we have also noted that an area has been highlighted in the southeastern direction. The significance of this move is profound. As we all know, the eastern part of Taiwan Island has long been regarded by the Taiwanese military as a 'combat power preservation area.' This means that if they suffer severe blows and huge losses from the PLA in the western region, they intend to relocate their main combat forces to this eastern area. This area has also been viewed over the long term as a 'hopeful area for seeking external assistance' and is considered their so-called last line of defense. I remember that in recent years, the separatist forces in Taiwan have been claiming that the eastern region is a weak point in the extension of the PLA's combat power. Therefore, by establishing such an exercise area here, we are effectively sealing off this channel for external aid, preventing separatist forces from escaping and blocking any outside assistance from getting in," he said.
PLA's multi-directional drills around Taiwan shows tighter encirclement capabilities: analyst
