Evizda

Fears that President-elect Donald Trump’s questioning of the “one China” policy and recent phone conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen would amplify military tensions with China were seemingly confirmed on Thursday after an editorial in the government mouthpiece, The Global Times, called for “use of force” to deter Taiwanese independence.

“Time will tell after Trump’s team takes over the U.S., whether it will willfully utilize the one-China policy as leverage to blackmail Beijing or restrain itself in actual practice,” the editorial stated, referring to the diplomatic agreement that allows “the U.S. to do business with both China and Taiwan while only recognizing Beijing,” the Guardian explains.

“In any case,” the editorial continued, “the current farce has made China vigilant.”

Underscoring the threat, the Chinese navy announced late Thursday that it had, on an “undisclosed date,” carried out large-scale war exercises, using live ammunition, with the nation’s first aircraft carrier.

The drill, conducted in the Bohai Sea, included “dozens of ships and aircraft as well as several air-to-air, air-to-ship and ship-to-air missiles.” According to Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie, the exercises demonstrated the “enhanced capability of the [carrier] in coordinating marine and air defense, as well as anti-submarine tasks.”