What message is China sending with latest footage of ‘no-notice’ DF rocket drill?

China has released footage of its troops carrying out a “no-notice” rocket launch as part of an ongoing effort by state media to showcase the People’s Liberation Army’s rapid-response capabilities.

State broadcaster CCTV on Monday released a brief video showing the exercise in mountainous terrain and said it had been carried out with no advance notice given to the troops involved.

No other details were provided.

The footage – which is believed to show a missile from the Dongfeng (east wind) stable – was released on the same day that a major Communist Party meeting focusing on discipline and loyalty – known as the fifth plenum – began in Beijing.

It was the second time this month that footage of a no-notice drill was released. The previous video, released on October 11, showed the launch of DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which are capable of reaching the US territory of Guam – a key part of the second island chain that stands between China and the Pacific.

CCTV said that drill had been carried out during the National Day holiday early this month in southeastern China – a possible reference to Fujian, the mainland province closest to Taiwan.

The footage also featured the slogan: “Sharpening blades across multi-domains, safeguarding national reunification.”

The October 11 broadcast came a day after Taiwan’s Double Tenth celebrations, when the island’s leader William Lai Ching-te gave a speech that Beijing said had escalated cross-strait tensions.

The publicity surrounding these drills also coincides with Keen Sword, an ongoing joint exercise conducted by the United States and Japan focused on a possible Taiwan crisis.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to reunite the island with the mainland.

The US and Japan, in common with most countries, do not recognise the island as independent.

On Sunday, an article published by the military’s mouthpiece, the PLA Daily, called on the military to enhance its rapid-response capabilities to prepare for “major ‘Taiwan independence’ incidents.”

This would be one of the three statutory triggers under last year’s Anti-Secession Law, which authorises the use of “non-peaceful means and other necessary measures” to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“The military must be fully prepared to deal with various complex situations and be able to handle them quickly and effectively if something happens,” said the article, which was written by three researchers with the National Defence University and the Academy of Military Sciences.

“We strive to the best of our ability to achieve peaceful reunification, however, as military personnel, we must remain prepared for war,” said the article in the PLA Daily.

“For those diehard “Taiwan independence” elements and external forces with ulterior motives, we must issue warnings and impose punishments in ways that they can clearly understand and that will make them afraid,” it reads.

On Sunday, mainland China marked “Taiwan Restoration Day”, an official memorial date established last year by Beijing to commemorate the end of Japanese colonial rule over the island.