Taiwan cannot rule out China holding more drills as president marks a year in office

TAIPEI - Taiwan cannot rule out that China will hold more military drills to “stir up trouble” around the one-year anniversary next week of President Lai Ching-te taking office, a senior government spokesperson said on May 15.

May 20 will be one year since Mr Lai’s inauguration, though his office has yet to announce how the President might mark the day.

China calls Mr Lai a “separatist” and has rebuffed his multiple offers for talks.

Mr Lai rejects China’s sovereignty claims over the democratic and separately governed island, saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

Speaking at a regular press conference, Mainland Affairs Council deputy head and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh said China’s threats against Taiwan had become a “normal state of affairs”, noting that China held drills shortly after Mr Lai assumed his post in 2024.

“Therefore, we do not rule out the possibility that the Chinese communists will use the anniversary of President Lai’s inauguration to stir up trouble again and make use of military exercises for political propaganda,” he said.

The council is Taiwan’s top China policymaking body.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office referred Reuters to comments it gave the previous day.

Asked about the upcoming anniversary on May 14, a spokesperson for the office said Mr Lai was a “Taiwan Strait crisis maker” who had increased antagonism and confrontation and undermined peace and stability.

China’s Defence Ministry repeated the comments on May 15.

Taiwan said China staged another of its regular “joint combat readiness patrols” around the island on May 11, and the Defence Ministry in Taipei has since reported a rise in Chinese military activities, involving a total of 131 aircraft and 32 warships.

Mr Liang said that Mr Lai had faced a series of “unfriendly” Chinese actions over the past year, including war games.