As Biden's emissaries go to Taiwan, China terms exercises 'combat drills'

BEIJING: China described its military exercises near Taiwan as "combat drills" on Wednesday (Apr 14), hours before the arrival of senior former US officials in Taipei on a trip to signal President Joe Biden's commitment to Taiwan and its democracy.

Taiwan has complained over the proximity of repeated Chinese military activity, including fighter jets and bombers entering its air defence zone and a Chinese aircraft carrier exercising off the island, claimed by Beijing.

Twenty-five Chinese air force aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, the largest reported incursion by Taipei to date.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan's government and separatists were colluding with "external forces", seeking provocation and to damage peace and stability.

"The People's Liberation Army's organising of actual combat exercises in the Taiwan Strait is a necessary action to address the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty," spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said.

"It is a solemn response to external forces' interference and provocations by Taiwan independence" forces, he added.

"The PLA's military exercises and training operations are sending a signal that our determination to curb Taiwan independence and Taiwan-US collusion is not just talk."

Commentary: Taiwan is becoming the biggest test in US-China relations

President Joe Biden sent an unofficial delegation of former US officials to Taiwan on Wednesday, in what a White House official called a "personal signal" of the president's commitment to Taiwan and its democracy.

Former senator Christopher Dodd and former deputy secretaries of state Richard Armitage and James Steinberg are scheduled to arrive in Taiwan later on Wednesday afternoon.

They are due to meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday, on a trip that is further straining Sino-US relations.

Presidential office spokesman Xavier Chang said the trip "again shows the Taiwan-US relationship is rock solid, and is a full expression of cross-party support for Taiwan in the United States".

Tsai has repeatedly said Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.

READ: Blinken warns of China's 'increasingly aggressive actions' against Taiwan

Ma said a meeting with the president "will only exacerbate the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait".

"We resolutely oppose the US' exaggeration of the so-called 'Chinese military threat' argument, and resolutely oppose the US playing the 'Taiwan card' and continuing to send wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces," he added.

"Taiwan independence is a dead end and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party are trying to use arms to seek independence," Ma said.

"That is to drink poison in the hopes of slaking one's thirst, and will only push Taiwan towards disaster."

Washington has diplomatically recognised Beijing over Taiwan since 1979.

But it maintains relations with Taipei and is bound by an act of Congress to sell the island defensive weapons. It also opposes any attempt by China to change Taiwan's future by force.

This week's delegation comes on the 42nd anniversary of that legislation - the Taiwan Relations Act - which Biden signed when he was a young senator.

It also comes after the State Department said on Friday it was issuing new guidelines allowing US officials to meet more easily with Taiwanese counterparts.

READ: Taiwan says it will fight to the end if China attacks

Biden's predecessor Donald Trump ramped up contacts and visits to Taiwan by US officials as relations between Washington and Beijing plunged over a host of issues.

Biden has made clear he wishes to cooperate with China on common causes such as climate change.

But concerns about China under President Xi Jinping have become a rare bipartisan issue in Washington and Biden has maintained a tough line with Beijing over its human rights record and threats towards Taiwan.

US climate envoy John Kerry will visit China later this week in the first trip there by the Biden administration, seeking to raise global ambitions despite soaring tensions with Beijing on other fronts.

"We have big disagreements with China on some key issues, absolutely. But climate has to stand alone," Kerry told CNN.