Chinese warships headed east of Taiwan: from naval cruises to joint naval exercises, Beijing is pushing for a new military norm in "Eastern Taiwan"

The Taiwan Strait has long been the main direction of Beijing's military pressure, but an exercise arrangement announced by the Chinese Ministry of Defense on August 11 pushed the focus of observation to the other side of Taiwan.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense announced that in mid-August, a Chinese naval warships will hold joint "navigation exercises" with Indonesian naval vessels in Taiwan's eastern waters. according to the information released by Beijing, the exercises will carry out communication and maritime supply training, the official explanation is to improve the two countries' naval joint operational capabilities and "jointly safeguard regional peace and stability".

Taiwan’s west faces the Taiwan Strait and mainland China, while the eastern part of Taiwan has long been regarded as a more important strategic depth in the Taiwan War, and is also an important direction for Taiwan to maintain external sea and air connections. China’s military forces are increasingly entering Taiwan’s eastern sea airspace, meaning Beijing is gradually weakening the traditional geographical concept of “relative security in eastern Taiwan.”

The first signal came in June of this year. China has already begun a maritime surveillance cruise near the east of Taiwan, raising attention from Taipei and Washington, among others. Maritime surveillance and navy although belonging to different law enforcement and military systems, the two have increasingly formed interconnected force structures in China's "grey zone" operations against Taiwan in recent years.

The second signal came from the participant. Beijing did not send military ships separately, but brought the Indonesian navy into this sensitive area. Indonesia did not recognize Taiwan as an independent country whileining important economic and military ties with China, but Jakarta has also long faced pressure in the South China Sea. China chose to exercise with a key Southeast Asian country east of Taiwan, objectively increasing the international cooperation of Beijing's military activities.

The third signal comes from the Liberation Army’s recent action trajectory around Taiwan. China’s aircraft and warships operate around Taiwan almost daily, and mass exercises have gradually expanded from the Taiwan Strait to the north, south and east of Taiwan. Beijing has publicly refused to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty and continues to use military power as an important political instrument to force Taiwan to unify.

This makes the meaning of "joint navigation exercises" cannot be understood only in a navy exchange.

If the sensitive waters around Taiwan are continuously accessed by the Chinese military through cruise, training, joint exercises and law enforcement operations, incidental military activities may gradually turn into a new normal.

It is worth noting that the Chinese Ministry of Defense did not announce the specific coordinates of the exercise.The Indonesian Navy and Taiwan Defense Department did not immediately respond publicly at the start of the news release.

What really needs to be continued to be observed is whether the Indonesian warships actually entered a position so close to the east of Taiwan, and whether the exercises entered the relevant maritime range claimed by Taiwan.

Beijing has long claimed that military activities in the Taiwan Sea are to safeguard national sovereignty.

But from western Taiwan to eastern Taiwan, from the Liberation Army to China’s naval guard, to bringing third-country naval forces into relevant waters, a more complete map of military pressure is being formed.

The Communist Party’s strategy for Taiwan is no longer just waiting for a war.

It is using seemingly limited operations over and over again to push forward the military space that could be used before the war.