In what could be described as a training exercise for a future invasion of the self-governing island of Taiwan, China‘s People‘s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) began a major naval exercise that included the Type 002 Shandong, the first domestically built Chinese aircraft carrier.
The drills, overseen by the PLA Eastern Theatre Command, were meant to simulate air and land strikes while gaining control of the waters and closing off the island.
PLAN ships routinely operate in the waters of the Taiwan Strait, but China has increased the frequency of the drills.
Beijing maintains that Taiwan, which has never been under the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is a breakaway province that will be returned to mainland control by force if necessary. The increase in the exercise is undoubtedly a response to President Lai and his desire for complete independence for Taiwan.
“Taiwan independence means war, and promoting ‘Taiwan independence‘ means pushing the people of Taiwan toward the perils of war,” China‘s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said in a statement
“Our will to resolve the Taiwan issue and complete national reunification is as solid as a rock; our ability is unshakeable, and we will not allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from China.”
Last month, Lai laid out seventeen steps Taipei could employ to push back from Beijing‘s aggression.
“The greatest consensus in Taiwanese society is to defend democracy, maintain sovereignty, and uphold our democratic and free way of life, firmly opposing Taiwan‘s annexation by China,” Lai suggested.
The drills also come just a week after United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the region and vowed to counter China‘s expansion in the Indo-Pacific.
China’s PLAN Carrier Deployment
This also marks the first PLAN carrier deployment of 2025, highlighting that Beijing needs to catch up to compete with the U.S. Navy, which has carriers operating around the globe.
China has made a great leap forward with its carrier capabilities. However, it still only has two operational flattops, which include the former Soviet Navy carrier refurbished as the
As Harrison Kass previously wrote for The National Interest, “China, despite being a rising power, is a long way from being able to park an aircraft carrier in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean simultaneously—in the way that the United States has been doing for decades. The United States is still decades ahead of China regarding the quality and quantity of aircraft carrier fleets.”
Kass also noted, “China‘s conventionally powered carrier fleet will have geographic limitations.”
That may be good news for the United States, at least for now, but it is ominous for Taiwan, as that is where Beijing‘s immediate focus may be.
Moreover, aircraft carriers are not, and may never be, China‘s primary power projection platform. China has been increasingly focused on weapons to sink carriers, so it may be cautious about how it deploys them, even as the Type 002 Shandong is now engaged in exercises near Taiwan.
