Analysis: China's Naval Drills Suggest Preparation to Isolate Taiwan

The massive Chinese naval exercises around the South China Sea, East China Sea and Philippine Sea last week were structured to prepare for an area denial strategy, according to a senior Taiwanese security official.

American and allied military planners have long anticipated that a Chinese offensive to reunify Taiwan would be accompanied by efforts to keep other countries from intervening, and would do so by restricting access to the region. China has the world's largest navy by fleet size, the world's largest coast guard, and a formidable arsenal of strike aircraft and antiship missiles - a diverse array of assets for intercepting any foreign assistance, from foreign merchant ships up to carrier strike groups.

On November 3, the secretary general of Taiwan's National Security Council, Joseph Wu, reported that more than 100 PLA Navy and China Coast Guard ships were at sea in the region for an unannounced exercise. The fleet was split into two groups - one moving out into the Pacific, accompanying the Chinese carrier Liaoning; and a second encircling the shores of Taiwan itself, creating a naval cordon. Additional task forces were deployed in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, covering China's main seaports and its southern approaches.

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