Last week China launched a comprehensive two-day military drill around Taiwan, mimicking a full-scale attack following an inauguration speech from Taiwan’s newly elected president.
The drills included dozens of fighter jets carrying live missiles, alongside navy vessels stationed at strategic locations around the island.
Southeast Asian politics expert Dr Roger Lee Huang spoke on The Briefing about how tensions impact Australia:
Dr Roger Lee Huang is an expert in Southeast Asian politics and international relations at Macquarie University.
“This is a serious escalation. I believe this is for the first time the People’s Liberation Army has actually entered what is known as restricted waters by the Taiwanese sides,” he said.
Military operations have been viewed as retaliation to Taiwan’s newly elected president, Lai Ching-te. The president’s recent inauguration speech reinforced the island’s independence from China.
“These military activities and exercises, of course, are planned weeks or months in advance. So really irrespective of what President Lai would or would not have said, these military exercises would inevitably be carried out.”
“What is slightly different from past presidents, is that he basically refused to even entertain the idea or the myth, right? This white lie, if you will, that there is only one China.”
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