Taipei: China's latest round of military exercises near Taiwan at the beginning of April was intended to show it could organize large-scale drills despite an ongoing military purge, Taiwan's top intelligence chief said Wednesday.

According to Focus Taiwan, at a legislative hearing, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen was questioned by lawmakers regarding the significance of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) drills held near Taiwan on April 1 and 2. Tsai indicated that the exercises were a countermeasure to the United States Department of Defense's renewed focus on the Indo-Pacific region, aiming to suppress China.

Tsai highlighted the timing of the exercises, which coincided with the U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's trip to Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, and Japan in late March, suggesting a direct response to Washington. However, Tsai also noted that the two-day military exercises served a domestic purpose amid reports of arrests of high-ranking PLA officials.

Though Tsai did not disclose the names of the arrested officials, media reports suggest that Central Military Commission Vice Chairman He Weidong and PLA Eastern Theater Command Commander Lin Xiangyang were among those detained. These officials were seen as loyal to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The drills were designed to refocus the PLA on military exercises rather than the ongoing military purge, which involves a power struggle and allegations of corruption against top generals. Tsai emphasized that the exercises demonstrated China's ability to conduct large-scale operations despite internal challenges.

During the hearing, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Lee Kuen-cheng inquired about the nature of the drills and the absence of a name prior to their commencement. Tsai explained that the PLA exercises were a combination of routine small-scale drills into a joint exercise, noting it was unusual for Beijing to name its military exercises on the second day rather than the first.

The PLA's Eastern Theater Command announced the beginning of joint exercises around Taiwan on April 1, framing them as "a stern warning" to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. The following day, the command declared the execution of a "Strait Thunder-2025A" drill in parts of the Taiwan Strait, before announcing the conclusion of the two-day joint combat exercises.