00:00This is Apropos. The EU is accusing China of increasing cross-strait tensions by holding
00:10large-scale military drills around Taiwan and calling on all parties to exercise restraint.
00:16Beijing began the drills without warning early this morning, accusing Taiwanese leaders of
00:22being separatists and parasites who were pushing the democratically run island into war. With
00:28the details, here's Caroline Bong.
00:32Chinese warships, troops and planes surrounded the island of Taiwan Tuesday in a blatant
00:37show of military force.
00:42The drill focuses on exercises on sea and air combat patrols, seizing control, sea and
00:47land strikes and blocking key areas and roads to test the combat capabilities of our troops.
00:53This is a severe warning and forceful containment against the Taiwan independent separatist
00:58forces.
01:01The Chinese government considers Taiwan a part of China and has previously threatened
01:06using force to bring the island under China's control. Taiwan was quick to respond with
01:11its own military and deployed land-based missile systems in response to the exercises. The
01:16government accused Beijing of sabre-rattling.
01:20China has continued to conduct military provocations in the international waters of various regions
01:25around the Taiwan Strait. It openly challenges the international order and is widely recognized
01:31by the international community as a troublemaker. The presidential office sternly condemns this.
01:39In China's crosshairs, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who last month referred to China
01:45as an external hostile force. In this animation published by the Chinese government, Lai is
01:51pictured as a parasite infecting Taiwan. China may also be testing the waters to measure
01:57the new Trump administration's response to heightened tension in the region. These drills
02:02are the first of their kind since President Donald Trump took office. But U.S. Secretary
02:07of Defense Pete Hegseth said Sunday in Japan that the U.S. would ensure credible deterrence
02:12across the Taiwan Strait. And a Pentagon memo obtained by the Washington Post indicated
02:17that deterring Chinese aggression towards Taiwan remains a top priority for Washington.
02:22For more on this story, we're joined now from Taiwan by Stéphane Courcouf, a professor
02:28in contemporary Chinese politics at the Lyon Institute of Political Studies. Thanks so
02:33much Stéphane for being with us on the program. Firstly, tell us why are these drills happening
02:38now?
02:40There is probably a strong response from China to recent developments in the policy that
02:51the U.S. has towards Taiwan, which, as it was reminded, is considered by China as part
02:56of its territory. And since the first presidency of Donald Trump, which was pursued by the
03:03one of Joseph Biden, and again with Trump number two, these policies are changing in
03:10the same direction with more cooperation, more weapons sales, more military exercises
03:18together and more international space given to Taiwan, with very, very significant changes
03:26in recent months, in the last two months since President Trump was inaugurated.
03:34Do you believe that China is being effectively emboldened by the attitude that's been taken
03:39by Donald Trump?
03:41Well, some people say that, but actually, when Donald Trump was still running for president,
03:50he used to have some ambiguous words for Taiwan. That's true. But we should never forget that
03:57he was also, years before, the author of this huge policy shift towards China, starting with
04:05a commercial war. And I couldn't see how abandoning Taiwan would be a strong policy for him. Whereas
04:18everybody in the United States who is studying geopolitics knows perfectly that Taiwan is
04:25crucial for the maintenance of liberal democracies, the value chain of supply of
04:36microchips and AI products, and that once Taiwan is taken by PRC, the Pacific Ocean will be
04:49a not anymore an American ocean, but will be probably a Chinese ocean and Americans with
04:58a problematic cooperation. So, it was very obvious. And Donald Trump had some hesitation,
05:07apparently. But the tone was set a month ago by his Secretary of State, who said very clearly
05:14what I just said. And yesterday, three days ago, there was an article by the Washington Post,
05:25which leaked some information about the priorities, the strategy priorities by the Pentagon.
05:32The new strategy priorities, the first of each of which being to forbid China to invade Taiwan,
05:40because China invading Taiwan is its pathway to the Pacific. So, it's stated very clearly. And
05:50I think that's the proximal cause of China's attitude today.
05:57And the White House said earlier as well today that there shouldn't be any unilateral attempts
06:01to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Stefan, you've referred as well to
06:07disclosures from the American Indo-Pacific strategy. What exactly was said there about
06:13Taiwan specifically? Taiwan is termed as, if I remember correctly,
06:22the sole priority consideration when defending the Pacific against China. That's very, very
06:31strong wording. And China is qualified in the same document as a pacing threat to the US.
06:43These words are very stern, very direct. But they also show that it is time to take into
06:50consideration the fact that China has already the first Navy in the world. Of course, the question
06:56of quantity is not enough to measure. But what is interesting is that preventing China to invade
07:05Taiwan was placed in this document at the same rank of priority as protecting US land at home.
07:14And then came another dimension, another priority, which was to share, to have the allies,
07:22American allies, sharing the burden of defence. But putting Taiwan on top of everything is
07:29absolutely new. And for us studying Taiwanese and Chinese geopolitics, there is nothing surprising.
07:35But it is very interesting to see that a president who had some not so nice words
07:43about Taiwan in recent months before being elected, has realised that America is really
07:52depending on Taiwan. If Taiwan needs to be used in the worst of the ideas, then America has to
07:59protect Taiwan. But it's much more than that. Taiwan is also very crucial, as I said, in the
08:06value chain of what is preparing, what the US and China are competing for.
08:12I mean, AI as the fourth industrial revolution, Taiwan is a strong part of it, and America knows
08:21it. And when it comes to China, then, Stefan, what kind of message do you think it's trying
08:26to send with all of this? And are we seeing a real ramping up of the rhetoric coming from Beijing?
08:33It's accusing Taiwanese leaders today of being separatists, using words like parasites. These
08:40drills appear to be linked to efforts to punish Taiwan, which is something we haven't
08:45seen previously, really.
08:49So that kind of very harsh language on Taiwan is not so rare. It's
08:55regularly heard each time Taiwan gets the visit by an American official, or when a Taiwanese
09:05official, such as the president we see on the screen, visits America. Last time there was such
09:13a big, big fury in Beijing was probably when Nancy Pelosi came, though since Nancy Pelosi came in
09:212020, from then to now, we have had several rounds of military exercises. What is China trying to
09:30show? In a way, China has to do this because it asserts her claim. If China was not doing that,
09:39then her claim would not appear as credible. But the problem is that once China does that,
09:47of course, it appears in the wider world as an aggressive country, because everybody knows that
09:54China has not managed Taiwan since 1949. So maybe it's a claim by China, but it's not a fact.
10:04We know more and more, I mean, not we specialists, but the public knows more and more that Taiwan
10:12has a sovereign government, which has been there since 1945, when Taiwan was integrated in the
10:19Republic of China, then on the mainland, and that the Chinese Civil War didn't put an end to it.
10:24That's what Mao Zedong said. That was the PRC says today. But that's not the fact. And Taiwan,
10:30as the Republic of China, still represented China for many years in the UN. So it was and it is
10:37still a sovereign country. So China, actually, when he's doing these military exercises,
10:47proves that it's like irredentist, not able to see the world as it is now,
10:53and claiming territories that were not really part of China, but part of the Manchu Empire,
10:58which is different. But of course, China also has good reasons to do these military drills, because
11:04China tests its military, its material, its organization, its strategy. We had in yesterday,
11:15because it's 4.30 now in Taiwan, but we had yesterday, one of the three aircraft carriers
11:27which cruised in the Taiwan Strait, the Shandong, and it was its third year of training and
11:44trying to get accustomed to its mission to protect the Chinese interests in the Taiwan Strait and
11:54South China Sea. So China uses this also to practice, to organize itself, to test its readiness,
12:02but also, of course, to test the readiness of Taiwan and of Taiwan's, the reaction of Taiwan's
12:08allies, such as the Americans. So that's very useful. And of course, collecting information,
12:14we had like 71 planes yesterday. There have been more sometimes, but that's one of the biggest
12:23drills in years. And China, of course, gets intelligence too.
12:29Stéphane, we'll have to leave it there for now. Thanks so much for being with us. And thanks for
12:32getting up so early to speak with us. That is Stéphane Corcou for Professor in Contemporary
12:38Chinese Politics at the Lyon Institute of Political Studies. And that's it.
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