PLA drills 'encircle' Taiwan to demonstrate ability to cut off energy supply: Expert

The People's Liberation Army launched long-range rocket strikes into the waters surrounding Taiwan on Tuesday, part of a massive exercise designed to demonstrate the Chinese mainland's ability to choke off the island's vital energy and supply routes.

The live-fire drills targeted sea areas to the north and south of Taiwan. According to Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, the strikes achieved their "expected results".

The maneuvers are a key component of "Justice Mission 2025", a series of major military exercises that began Monday around Taiwan.

Military experts described the rocket launches as a strategy of "point-striking" — essentially a surgical military approach aimed at hitting an opponent's most vulnerable spots to cause maximum disruption.

Zhang Chi, a professor at the PLA National Defense University, said the locations of the drills were chosen specifically because they sit on Taiwan's primary shipping lanes for fuel and food.

"Taiwan is an island with very few natural resources of its own," Zhang said. "It relies almost entirely on imports. By firing into these specific zones, the military is showing it can cut off the lifeline of the Democratic Progressive Party authorities at any moment."

Zhang used a Chinese idiom, "taking the firewood from under the cauldron," to describe the strategy: by cutting off energy supplies, the PLA aims to collapse "Taiwan independence" forces' ability to sustain a conflict.

A central feature of Tuesday's drill was the use of long-range box-launch rockets. In simple terms, these are highly mobile, truck-mounted systems that can fire a large volume of guided rockets over long distances with extreme accuracy.

Unlike traditional artillery, these "box launchers" can be reloaded quickly and are much harder for an enemy to track and destroy.

Zhang noted that these rockets are just one part of a "diverse toolbox" that includes precision-guided weapons, missiles that use GPS or satellite tracking to hit specific buildings or ships, and conventional missiles, larger weapons designed to strike targets further away with greater power.

Zhang said that the drills "encircled" the island, putting every major port, military base, and energy facility within range of fire.

This demonstrates, he said, that through live-fire exercises and joint strikes, the PLA is capable of cutting off lifelines, supply lines, and escape routes of "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

The goal, according to Zhang, is to "shatter" any plans "Taiwan independence" forces might have of resisting reunification through military force or relying on support from external forces.