China's threatening gestures against Taiwan: military exercise as “silent intimidation”

In the protracted conflict around the island of Taiwan, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has now tried out a new tactic: an unannounced military maneuver - massive in scope, but initially almost unnoticed by the world public.

A senior official in Taiwan's security establishment described the operation as "quiet intimidation." It was, the anonymous source told the Reuters news agency, as if a robber were hiding a gun in his coat pocket and pointing it at a bank employee: "He intimidates the bank employee into handing over the money without setting off the alarm, thereby provoking a major police operation."

And in doing so, he describes exactly the scenario that the party leadership in Beijing has in mind as an ideal scenario when it comes to conquering the democratically ruled island: an annexation without ever having to fire a shot, and possibly without even having to shed a drop of blood. Sheer military dominance is intended to deter the US from getting involved in a war over Taiwan. The island's more than 23 million residents should also be given the impression that resistance is pointless anyway.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's military reached the next level of escalation at the beginning of the month. Beijing is said to have gathered over 100 ships in the waters near Taiwan, but also far into the western Pacific. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, two Chinese aircraft carriers - both the Liaoning and the state-of-the-art Fujian - were also involved. Among other things, the armed forces simulated attacks on Taiwanese cities, according to government circles in Taipei. A Chinese submarine is also said to have fired an intercontinental ballistic missile - apparently to test the missile's flight range.

The scale of the unannounced military exercise is unprecedented. When China last simulated an island blockade of Taiwan at the end of 2025, according to official information from the Ministry of Defense, it mobilized a total of 32 ships, including 14 from the coast guard - significantly fewer than in the silent maneuver a few days ago.

Likewise, China's previous demonstrations of power in the Taiwan Strait have always included a parallel propaganda campaign: In the course of such maneuvers, the military published martial video clips on social media, which were intended to appeal to the nationalism of the domestic audience on the one hand, and to intimidate the residents of Taiwan on the other. The missions were also accompanied by patriotic statements from Chinese diplomats, foreign ministry spokesmen and political commentators.

Taiwanese military expert Ying Yu Lin from Tamkamg University analyzes why a completely opposite approach was chosen this time in the specialist magazine The Diplomat: He believes that the People's Liberation Army was less concerned with preparing a blockade of Taiwan than with a much more far-reaching military operation in which the coordination of various regional commands would be tested.

The purpose, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, was to prevent foreign forces from supporting Taiwan in the event of war. Beijing has also demonstrated that it can largely conceal the preparations for such a large-scale military exercise. This tactic also includes the Chinese state media, which portrays the military's operation as purely routine - in order to establish a new status quo. True to the motto: There is absolutely nothing to see here.

The “quiet” nature of the mission certainly also has something to do with the timing: US President Donald Trump is traveling to Shenzhen in a few days, where he will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit with over a dozen other heads of state and where there will even be a three-way meeting between him, Russian President Putin and Xi Jinping. It is important for Xi Jinping to use the host stage to present himself and his country as a responsible global power. Media reports about war games in the Taiwan Strait would be of little help.

But the 73-year-old makes no secret about his true intentions. Just a few days ago, on the occasion of the 160th birthday of Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, respected in both China and Taiwan, Xi said: "The course of history is inexorable. The complete reunification of our motherland must be realized - and it will undoubtedly be realized."