hard power

• According to Al Jazeera, the People’s Liberation Army sent ‘multiple’ warships and aircrafts into the Taiwan strait (July 2022). Five months later, China sent a record 71 planes and 7 ships to Taiwan. This was alleged a ‘war plan rehearsal’ that acts as a threat to those who are increasingly ‘playing with fire’ against Chinese’s sovereignty. 
• 2022 White Paper: resolution of the Taiwan question is ‘indispensable for the realisation of China’s rejuvenation’ and ‘historic mission’
• 2022 attacks: ‘Smashing plots for Taiwan independence’ - China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
• GRAY ZONE TACTICS: the ‘normalisation’ of China’s exertion of military power ‘may one day serve to mask the first moves of a real attack’, according to David Gitter (US based National Buruare of Asian Research). 
• BBC 2023: over 60% of people in Taiwan identify as Taiwanese, and less than 10% identify as Chinese
• China has 2,035,000 active forces, compared to Taiwan's 169,000
• In January 2024, Taiwanese voters chose pro-sovereignty candidate Willian Lai as the next president of the country. While Beijing, according to the BBC, has called him a ‘troublemaker’ and a dangerous ‘separatist’, the DPP leader repeated his former president’s formula of there being ‘no need to declare independence, because Taiwan is already an independent sovereign state’.
• Estimated military capacity of US$261 billion (2020, Stockholm International Peace Institute)
• May 2024: China has launched two days of military drills surrounding Taiwan as 'punishment' for acts of independence after the island's new president took office
• The drills intended to 'serve as strong punishment for the separatist acts of 'Taiwan independence' forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces'
• 'In the face of external challenges and threats, [the forces] will continue to defend democracy and have the confidence and ability to protect national security' - Taiwan's Defence Ministry
• Activities are intended to serve as an intimidation, which, intentionally, should lead Taiwan to submitting to China