Ankur Desai

And so now it's kind of trying to, I guess, show its authority again by flexing its muscles in such a significant way with the Air Force, with the Navy, with the rocket force.

I suppose what the view is, is that it would deter others from getting involved.

What about the impact then on Taiwan and the Taiwanese response?

You know, it's funny, in Taiwan, these drills for the average people there seem to be a bit like sort of water off a duck's back.

They're used to it now and you might expect that it might drive them nuts.

I mean, for example, the government in Taiwan has said that this is going to affect commercial aviation, that it's not safe for commercial aviation.

Over the next two days, it might disrupt flights.

And you've got this propaganda from the People's Liberation Army, for example.

They've released these images in conjunction with the drills, with these shields which have got the Great Wall of China on them, with the message that anyone who confronts this shield, i.e.

the People's Liberation Army, will be annihilated.

So blood-curdling threats.

And yet, I mean, after years and years of this, of a combination of threats and statements from the Chinese government...

Most people in Taiwan, according to opinion polls, according to the election results we've seen, they don't want to unify with mainland China.

They would prefer to have their independent judiciary, their free courts, their democratic elections.

And so despite all the bluster from Beijing, it doesn't seem like it's had any impact in terms of convincing the vast majority of people in there that their lives would be better if they were to unify with mainland China.

What can we expect next in terms of either a retaliation or a response from either side, really?

Well, we've had the government in Taipei straight away criticising these drills, saying that they're potentially in breach of international law because of the disruptions to commercial aviation.

In China, I think, again, for ordinary people, they're kind of used to these drills.

Now we've seen them.

And although they're getting bigger, it's kind of the same.