A sailor onboard a warship of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy conducts reconnaissance on a military vessel of the island of Taiwan during the Joint Sword-2024A exercise around Taiwan island on May 24. Photo: PLA Eastern Theater Command

The just-concluded large-scale joint exercise conducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has shocked "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces, with a pilot of the island's air force reportedly admitting that "the air force will eventually collapse."

In a countermeasure against Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te's separatist inaugural speech made on May 20, the PLA Eastern Theater Command conducted the Joint Sword-2024A exercise surrounding the island of Taiwan from Thursday to Friday.

The defense authority on the island of Taiwan said on the X platform that it spotted 49 PLA aircraft, 19 PLA vessels and seven China Coast Guard vessels around the island on Thursday, and the numbers further increased to 62 PLA aircraft and 27 PLA vessels on Friday.

A netizen claiming to be a pilot in active service with the air force on the island of Taiwan said on an online social media and networking platform that Taiwan's flight crews had been overloaded since Lai's May 20 speech and the PLA's exercises, and they know this situation will become normal in the future, media on the island reported on Saturday.

"Since this year, many pilots on the team have asked to retire. Some young pilots are even willing to pay the NT$3 million ($93,000) compensation fee to leave," the alleged Taiwan air force pilot was quoted by the report as saying.

The island's air force has been overloaded in recent years with emergency sorties, all-night maintenance and midnight training sessions, but Lai ignored the situation faced by the troops and insisted on resisting reunification by force, the alleged Taiwan air force pilot said.

The island's air force will "eventually collapse," media quoted the anonymous netizen as saying.

Ironically, in what experts called an act of self-deception, the island of Taiwan released photos showing PLA aircraft acquired by the electro-optical targeting pod of the island's F-16V fighter jets.

A Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday that being able to see does not mean being able to defeat.

The PLA drills' goal is to deter and warn the Taiwan authorities, and in a real combat scenario, the island will not get the chance to lock on to any PLA aircraft, the above-quoted expert said.

"We are showing them our capabilities, so it is normal that we let them 'monitor'," the expert said.

Zhang Chi, a professor at the PLA National Defense University, told the Global Times that during the exercise, the PLA's naval and air forces closed in on the island of Taiwan from multiple directions and put intense pressure on the military in the island's defense and activity spaces.

The goal of the exercise is to clearly warn the Lai authorities that seeking "independence" is a dead end, Zhang said.

In an "anti-salami-slicing" move conducted with overwhelming power, the PLA will move forward every time the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces dare to provoke, Zhang said.