Chinese exercises on the Taiwan Strait and Islands during the First Day of Operation Joint Sword: Beijing’s Defense Ministry and the Eastern Theater Command

The Chinese navy seems to have had actual strikes on Taiwan in the past, but they have only just finished their drills on the island.

Beijing launched the drills on Saturday, a day after Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a 10-day visit to Central America and the United States where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The J-15 flights were among 35 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft that had either crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered the islands air defense identification zon in the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. Taiwan time on Monday, according to the island’s Defense Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Japan Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed in a press release that Japanese forces had observed 80 fixed-wing aircraft take-offs and landings during the Chinese exercises from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, which was in the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan and about 230 kilometers (143 miles) south of the Japanese island of Miyako in Okinawa prefecture.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday that the Eastern Theater Command of the PLA was continuing military drills around Taiwan as part of its Operation Joint Sword that began two days earlier.

The Taiwan Strait and the northwest, southwest and east of Taiwan were the focus of the drills on Monday.

MultiplePLA services carried out simulation joint precision strikes on key targets in and around Taiwan Island over the weekend.

It said in a statement later it had completed the military exercises and “comprehensively tested joint combat capabilities of its integrated military forces under actual combat situation.”

“Chinese leaders will think twice before they decide to use force against Taiwan. And no matter whether it is 2025 or 2027 or even beyond, Taiwan simply needs to get ready,” he said.

However, China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing island as its territory, and in recent years, as his power has grown, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made clear his ambitions to “reunify” with the island – by force if necessary.

Analyst Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said the PLA was “practicing and probably refining the aerial coordination and joint operations required to initiate a blockade of Taiwan’s ports and air lanes.”

A Chinese blockade of Taiwan could choke off supplies coming into the island, including any military aid or other shipments from the United States or its partners.

The island’s air defense units were on high alert as a result of the exercises that took place after President Tsai’s visit.

Asked if Taiwan has any sense of the timing of potential Chinese military action, given US intelligence assessments that Xi has instructed his military to be prepared by 2027, Wu expressed confidence in Taiwanese preparations.

Beijing described them as “a serious warning against the Taiwan separatist forces’ collusion with external forces, and a necessary move to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Asked if the costs of such a visit were too high, Wu told CNN, “China cannot dictate how Taiwan makes friends. And China cannot dictate how our friends want to show support to Taiwan.”

When it comes to understanding what the French government is saying and what that means, we still have not figured it out.