Situation comes to a head

Beijing threatens Taiwan with “crushed skulls”

A member of the Taiwanese armed forces targets a Chinese military ship off the coast of the island.(Bild: AFP/TAIWAN DEFENCE MINISTRY/HANDOUT)

Following the inauguration of the new Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te, China is escalating the situation. Independence supporters on the breakaway island have been threatened with bloodshed in martial terms from Beijing - flanked by a large-scale military exercise around Taiwan.

"The independence forces will end up with crushed skulls and in blood" after being confronted with China's "grand project of complete unification" with Taiwan, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin in Beijing on Thursday. He called the current Chinese military exercises around Taiwan a "serious warning".

"Against interference and provocation by external forces"
The Chinese army also sounded belligerent tones: the new exercise was "also a severe punishment for the separatist forces of Taiwan independence and a serious warning against interference and provocation by external forces", said the spokesman of the Eastern Association of the People's Liberation Army, Marine Colonel Li Xi.

A member of the Taiwanese armed forces takes aim at a Chinese military ship off the coast of the island.(Bild: AFP/TAIWAN DEFENCE MINISTRY/HANDOUT)

The army, navy, air force and missile forces will hold exercises around Taiwan until Friday. The Chinese military reportedly wants to train joint combat readiness at sea and in the air as well as attacking key targets. Ships and aircraft would approach Taiwan from the north, south and east for "patrols" and also come close to several surrounding islands, such as the island of Kinmen, which is only a few kilometers from the Chinese mainland.

Blockade simulated - politicians are to be prevented from fleeing
Military expert Zhang Chi said on Chinese state television that China was simulating a blockade of Taiwan. The army is practising to stop energy imports "as a lifeline" to Taiwan, to cut off escape routes for Taiwan's politicians abroad and to prevent support from allies such as the USA.

A Taiwanese army Mirage 2000 fighter jet over northern Taiwan(Bild: AFP/YASUYOSHI CHIBA)

Taiwan's Defense Ministry condemned the military exercise as an "irrational provocation" that threatens peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwanese armed forces at sea, on the ground and in the air had been sent to defend "freedom and democracy with practical actions".

New Taiwanese president rattles nerves in China
The background to the escalation is the swearing-in of Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te last Monday. His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election in January and is in favor of Taiwanese independence, although Lai has not yet indicated that he intends to officially declare it. The ruling Communist Party in Beijing accuses the DPP of separatism.