China building capacity to rapidly strike Taiwan, senior Taiwanese official says

PHOTO CAPTION: EASTERN THEATRE COMMAND/Reuters

By Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) -China is building its capacity to rapidly turn military drills into a full-out attack, a senior Taiwan security official said, providing the Taipei government's assessment of the strategic intent behind Beijing's war games around the island this week.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, staged large-scale drills on Monday that it said were a warning to "separatist acts" following last week's national day speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

Taiwan has for the past five years complained of almost daily Chinese military activities around the island, including at least four rounds of major war games and regular "joint combat readiness patrols".

"They are increasing the building up of their capacity to turn military exercises into a conflict," the official said at a briefing in Taipei, requesting anonymity to be able to speak more frankly.

Taiwan reported a record 153 Chinese aircraft took part in the drills, and the official added an unprecedented 25 Chinese navy and coast guard boats also approached close to Taiwan's 24-mile (39-km) contiguous zone.

"They approached very close to Taiwan. They increased their pressure on Taiwan and squeezed Taiwan's response time," the official said. "This drill presented more of a threat than ever before to Taiwan."

The official said during the drill, China launched two missiles towards an unspecified inland area, without providing further details.

"Although they did not fire missiles towards Taiwan this time, they did practice missile launches," the official said.

China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Monday, it vowed to take further action as needed against Taiwan, while on Wednesday China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing will never commit to renouncing the use of force over Taiwan.

The Taiwan official said their own intelligence had detected signs of China's drills ahead of time and deployed assets including mobile missile launchers to strategic spots before Beijing announced the war games around dawn on Monday.

Lai and his government reject Beijing's sovereignty claims saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future. Lai has repeatedly offered talks, but he has been rebuffed by China.

REGULAR PATROLS

In a report to parliament on Thursday, Taiwan's defence ministry said China currently holds three to four "joint combat readiness patrols" per month around Taiwan, in a move the ministry described as "provocation and increasing the threat to our military".

Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo, asked when China could hold its next war games, told reporters it could be at any time and under any pretext.

"This shows their hegemonic nature, which we can all see very clearly," Koo said.

The military has already included a plan, in its annual Han Kuang war games, on ways to counter a compressed response time in case China suddenly turns its drills into a real attack, he added.

A Taipei-based diplomat familiar with security issues in the region said Beijing's war games presented a "big threat" because through the drills, China's military was quickly building up its mobilisation and combat capabilities.

"The permanent state of readiness is getting higher and higher - they can switch from nothing to drills to war in no time," said the diplomat, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Taiwan has lived with the threat of invasion by China's People's Liberation Army since the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists.

China's recent war games have not caused undue alarm for most Taiwanese, nor did they impact financial markets on the island.

Asked by a lawmaker at a separate parliament session on Thursday about the possibility of war with China, Taiwan central bank governor Yang Chin-long said they have "appropriate preparations", without elaborating.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, Roger Tung and Liang-sa Loh; Editing by Jamie Freed)