EDITORIAL: Behind the military messagingThe Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) provided several reasons for military drills it conducted in five zones around Taiwan on Monday and yesterday. The second was that the drills were aimed at “deterrence” of outside military intervention. The drills were not simply about operational readiness; they were about messaging: to Taiwan, to regional players and to the US. Although “the PLA currently fields the most advanced military hardware in its history ... the quality and stability of its leadership remain dubious,” Zi wrote. China and the PLA were not the only ones leveraging the messaging potential of the drills.
