PLA drills near Taiwan now 'new normal,' scholar says

Joint military drills around Taiwan have become a "new normal" and are now "everyday business" for the People's Liberation Army and its Eastern Theater Command, a military scholar said on Tuesday.

Zhang Chi, a professor at the PLA's National Defense University, made the remarks after the theater command announced it was conducting joint exercises involving land, sea, air and missile forces around the Taiwan Strait.

Zhang said the drills are aimed at Taiwan's government under Lai Ching-te and pro-independence forces on the island.

"Since taking office, Lai has been promoting 'green terror' on the island, deliberately undermining stability in the Taiwan Strait, proposing a new 'two-state theory,' stubbornly adhering to a separatist agenda, and repeatedly making public statements advocating 'Taiwan independence' while labeling the Chinese mainland as a so-called hostile external force," Zhang said.

"Therefore, Lai is an unequivocal troublemaker, danger creator and war instigator," he said.

The drills targeting "Taiwan independence" forces are "justified and necessary" to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said, adding that the PLA would take further action if provoked.

"The closer the ties between the 'Taiwan independence' forces and external forces, the tighter the PLA's blockade chain around Taiwan will become," Zhang said.

He said the latest exercises demonstrate three key capabilities of the PLA: joint operations, precision strikes on key targets and control of the battlefield.

Since 2022, the PLA has carried out at least three large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. Zhang said that in these drills, the PLA has moved closer to Taiwan, improving its ability to operate in the area.

"This largely indicates that the exercises we are witnessing around the Taiwan Strait have become a new normal," he said. "For the PLA and the Eastern Theater Command, these exercises are now everyday business."