Beijing 'gearing for fast shift to war from drills'

China is building its capacity to rapidly turn military drills into a full-out attack, a senior Taiwan security official said, providing Taipei's assessment of the strategic intent behind Beijing's war games around the island this week.

China staged large-scale drills on Monday as a warning over "separatist acts" following last week's Double Tenth speech by Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te.

Taiwan has for the past five years complained of almost daily Chinese military activities around the island, including at least four rounds of major war games and regular "joint combat readiness patrols."

"They are increasing the building up of their capacity to turn military exercises into a conflict," the official said.

Taiwan reported a record 153 Chinese aircraft took part in the drills, with an unprecedented 25 mainland navy and coast guard boats also approaching close to Taiwan's 39-kilometer contiguous zone.

"They approached very close. They increased pressure and squeezed Taiwan's response time," the official said. "This drill presented more of a threat than ever before."

During the drill, China launched two missiles towards an inland area. "Although they didn't fire missiles toward Taiwan, they did practice launches," the official said.

Taiwan's own intelligence had detected signs of China's drills and deployed assets, including mobile missile launchers, to strategic spots before Beijing announced the war games around dawn Monday.

In a report to lawmakers yesterday, Taiwan's defense ministry said China holds three to four "joint combat readiness patrols" a month as "provocation and increasing the threat to our military."

Taipei has included a plan in its annual Han Kuang war games on ways to counter a compressed response time in case China suddenly turns its drills into an attack, defense minister Wellington Koo said.

A Taipei-based diplomat said the war games presented a "big threat" as, through them, China's military was quickly building up its mobilization and combat capabilities.

"The permanent state of readiness is getting higher and higher - they can switch from nothing to drills to war in no time."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE