Taiwan's Minister of National Defense, Wellington Koo, said on Tuesday that China is conducting "area denial" drills in the Western Pacific with the Liaoning carrier strike group and other naval training formations. Beijing has not formally declared any manoeuvres.
Koo spoke to reporters at the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's parliament, in Taipei.
More than 100 ships
Last week, the secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, Joseph Wu, posted on his X account that more than 100 ships of the Chinese navy and coast guard were operating in waters around Taiwan, in the South China Sea and out into the Pacific. The Ministry of National Defense also recorded a sharp rise in the number of Chinese air force aircraft around the island over the same period, without releasing a total.
What "area denial" means
The phrase comes from the military doctrine of anti-access/area denial (A2/AD): the set of capabilities meant to keep an outside force from entering a conflict. Applied to Taiwan, it means making it harder for US or allied forces to come to Taipei's aid should Beijing attack the island.
That reading is what turns ocean-going training — routine in itself for any blue-water navy — into a political message. Koo said the purpose of Chinese deterrence is to undermine peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and that Taiwan is monitoring the movements closely, using joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance means and sharing information with allies in order to respond appropriately.
The calendar behind the manoeuvres
The drills come a week before the summit of APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, scheduled for Shenzhen in southern China, where US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Taiwan, for its part, holds local elections on 28 November.
China's Ministry of National Defense did not respond to requests for comment. Last month the ministry said the Liaoning's training in the Western Pacific is an annual routine intended to test long-range, open-ocean combat capability and is not aimed at any particular country.
With information from the Taipei Times and Reuters.
