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A top Taiwanese official has warned that a Chinese blockade of the island would be considered an act of war.

Let’s bring you up to speed: China has significantly intensified its military drills around Taiwan, regularly conducting exercises that simulate blockades, amphibious assaults, and air raids on the island. These drills, which have increased in frequency over the past few years, involve various branches of the Chinese military, including the Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force.

The most recent operations, code-named “Joint Sword-2024B,” surrounded Taiwan from multiple directions, including the Taiwan Strait. China has framed these exercises as warnings to Taiwan’s “independence movement,” signaling its readiness to use military force to maintain control over the self-governed island.

What Taiwan is saying: Taiwan’s Defense Minister, Wellington Koo, warned that any attempt by China to impose a blockade on the island would be considered an act of war under international law. He said, “If you really want to carry out a so-called blockade, which according to international law is to prohibit all aircraft and ships entering the area, then according to United Nations resolutions it is regarded as a form of war.” He added, “I want to stress that drills and exercises are totally different from a blockade, as would be the impact on the international community.”

China’s Foreign Ministry responds: During a press conference, a reporter asked a spokesman if he had any comments on Taiwan’s defense minister’s claims that a blockade would be an ‘act of war.’ Spokesman Lin Jian said, “Taiwan is a province of China. There is no so-called “defense ministry” or “defense minister” of Taiwan. What you asked about is not about foreign affairs either. Taiwan is part of China’s territory. Let me stress that whatever the Taiwan authorities say or do, they cannot change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. Nor can they change the trend that the two sides of the Strait will and must be reunited.”