China flexes muscles after Taiwan election
RESPONSE: Stages military drills near island state
WASHINGTON — It’s hard not to see it as a response, of sorts, to Taiwan’s elections.
Days after Taiwanese voters elected the leader of a pro-independence party to the president’s office, China’s military announced that a unit based opposite Taiwan had carried out live firing drills and mock landing exercises.
Separately, thousands of trolls from mainland China jumped over the Great Firewall to flood the Facebook page of Taiwan’s next president, Tsai Ing-wen, with hostile comments.
The Chinese government has responded warily to Tsai’s election, saying it wants good relations with the island it considers part of its territory. But it also demands Tsai embrace the idea that there is only “one China.”
The military drills could be seen as a gentle reminder that China would view any declaration of independence as tantamount to a declaration of war.
Footage broadcast on China Central Television showed amphibious landing craft firing shells from sea to land, helicopters firing missiles, soldiers parachuting down and tanks rolling through the countryside. In July state television showed a video of soldiers storming a mock-up of Taiwan’s presidential palace
The latest exercise, it said, was carried out by the 31st army group based in Xiamen, Fujian province, which lies directly opposite Taiwan.
Tsai’s Democratic People’s Party (DPP) believes Taiwan is a sovereign, independent country but in her victory speech on Saturday, Tsai said she wanted good relations with China and would avoid any provocations.
But it is clear that the Chinese government and many Chinese people remain wary of Tsai.
On Wednesday evening, her Facebook page was flooded with hostile comments, in what appeared to be a co-ordinated effort by nationalist Netizens from the mainland.
“Your root is here, come back soon, this will only make our Chinese nationality lose face,” one user wrote.
Another asked separatists to leave Taiwan. “Can you stop barking in China’s territory?,” the user wrote.
By Thursday afternoon, Tsai’s Facebook page had received more than 40,000 comments.
All this underlines the scale of the challenge ahead for both sides to keep relations on an even keel, especially at a time when nationalist sentiment often runs high on Chinese state media.