China conducted drills around the island it claims as its own territory on Saturday, sending 71 planes and nine ships across the Taiwan Strait’s median line, according to Taiwan’s defence minister.
The three-day exercises were widely anticipated after China denounced Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wednesday wen’s meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles. They were announced the day following Tsai Ing-return wen’s from her trip to the United States.
China has never renounced using force to seize control of the island nation of Taiwan, which is administered democratically. China’s assertions are firmly rejected by Taiwan’s government.
Beijing’s declaration also came just after prominent European politicians visited China.
Exercises for “Joint Sword”
The People’s Liberation Army announced that it had begun the combat readiness patrols and “Joint Sword” exercises in and around Taiwan after having earlier stated that they would take place “as planned” in the Taiwan Strait and to Taiwan’s north, south, and east.
The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese army issued a statement saying, “This is a significant warning to the Taiwan independence separatist forces and external forces’ cooperation and provocation, and it is a necessary move to preserve national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The median line that typically acts as an informal buffer between the two sides was crossed by 42 Chinese fighters, including J-10, J-11, and J-16 aircraft, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry on Saturday morning. Eight Chinese ships were also sighted.
The ministry claimed that China was using Tsai’s trip to the US “as an excuse to conduct out military exercises, which has significantly undermined regional peace, stability, and security.”
“To preserve national sovereignty and national security, the military will respond in a cool, collected, and serious manner, and will stand vigil and monitor in accordance with the principles of “not escalating nor disputes.”
With exciting martial music playing in the background and footage of fighter planes doing airborne refuelling, China official media purportedly broadcast footage of the manoeuvres. Reuters was unable to confirm the location or date of the shooting.
Everything is “as expected”
In Taiwan, where residents are accustomed to Chinese threats, there was no widespread anxiety over the drills.
If the meeting with McCarthy—who is second in line to succeed the U.S. president after the vice president—took place, China had warned vague punishment. After Nancy Pelosi, the then-House Speaker, visited Taipei in August, Beijing held military games there that included live missile launches.
In contrast to August, when both forces’ ships engaged in standoffs, a senior Taiwan official familiar with security planning in the area told Reuters that the aircraft had only momentarily crossed the median line while the ships had already turned back.
ANALYSIS
China is currently thought to have a greater worldwide impact on politics than ever before.
China, according to Taiwan’s foreign minister, is learning from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said that the situation was “as predicted” and manageable, and that Taiwan’s administration had practised numerous scenarios for its response.
As part of drills announced by China late on Friday, Reuters reporters in a beachside region in Fuzhou, across from the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, witnessed a Chinese warship firing rounds towards a drill area on China’s shore.
Tsai said she was looking forward to enhancing security cooperation with the United States while hosting a lunch on Saturday with a delegation of visiting American lawmakers, led by Michael McCaul, chair of the House foreign affairs committee.
She made statements in front of television cameras, saying only that “I would want to repeat that the people of Taiwan cherish democracy and wish peace.”
Taiwan rejects
Tsai has volunteered to talk with China on numerous occasions, but has been rejected because the government sees her as a separatist. She claims that the future of Taiwan rests solely on its people.
According to an article published on Saturday in The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, the government has “a strong power to thwart any sort of Taiwan independence secession.”
The Chinese government’s actions to defend territorial integrity and national sovereignty were all justified by law, according to the statement.
China has not yet stated if it will also hold missile drills, unlike in August. China issued a chart indicating which nautical regions around Taiwan it will be firing into when it announced the prior drills.
According to the security source, China generally conducts military drills in April.
Given that the McCarthy meeting took place in the United States, Taiwanese officials had anticipated a milder response, but they had also stated that they could not completely rule out the chance that China would stage additional drills.
Chinese “wishful thinking” on compromise Xi
Hours after French President Emmanuel Macron departed China, where he had meetings with President Xi Jinping and other top officials, China made their announcement. Beijing was asked by Macron to reason with Russia on the conflict in Ukraine.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Union, who is in China this week to meet with Xi, stated that it was crucial for the Taiwan Strait to remain stable.
China’s official account of the meeting quotes Xi as saying that expecting China to make concessions on Taiwan was “wishful thinking” in response.
China cautions the United States to end containment or risk “conflict.”
The Chinese defence ministry posted images of Xi meeting Macron and von der Leyen on its home page in addition to announcing the drills around Taiwan.
The Taiwan security source claimed that following the announcement of the drills, China’s recent attempts to win over foreign leaders had been ineffective.
“All those efforts have disappeared overnight and have been a waste of time since the announcement of drills in the strait.”
