Days after President Lai Ching-te used his inauguration speech to call on China to cease military intimidation of Taiwan, Beijing held two days of navy, army and air force drills dubbed "Joint Sword-2024A." The exercises around Taiwan were designed to test whether China's People's Liberation Army could seize power and control key parts of the country. For the first time, the drills coordinated coast guard maneuvers around four outlying islands, including those of Kinmen and Matsu. Beijing has called President Lai a "dangerous separatist," so in this episode we ask where China thinks the source of that danger is.
Our guests:
Chen Ming-chi
- Institute for National Defense and Security Research CEO
Guermantes Lailari
- Retired U.S. Air Force foreign area officer specializing in counterterrorism, irregular warfare and missile defense
Marcin Jerzewski
- European Values Center for Security Policy Taiwan Office Head
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