Former President Donald Trump recently addressed concerns regarding China's military drills around Taiwan, stating, No, nothing worries me. They've been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area. Trump emphasized his positive relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which he claimed was not impacted by the military activities.
The Chinese military began its latest exercises soon after the United States announced an $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan, a move that has drawn significant ire from Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province.
The ongoing military exercises, which include 10 hours of live-firing in locations surrounding Taiwan, are intended to showcase China's military capabilities and warn against any aspirations for Taiwanese independence. In response, Taiwan's presidential office condemned the drills as a threat to international norms.
While the former president's remarks downplayed the risk, his administration had authorized one of the largest arms packages to Taiwan, featuring a variety of advanced military equipment. The U.S. maintains informal ties with Taiwan and serves as its primary arms supplier, while officially recognizing Beijing. However, China has retaliated against the arms sale with sanctions against American defense companies, asserting that any strategy attempting to use Taiwan to contain China would fail.
