China Rehearses ‘sealing off’ Taiwan in Drills
China claimed it was simulating “sealing off” Taiwan during its third day of military drills, during which it appeared to launch jets toward Taiwan from an aircraft carrier.
Taiwan reported detecting jets to its east, while China claimed its Shandong aircraft carrier participated.
Beijing initiated the drills on Saturday, following Taiwan President Tsai Ing-meeting wen’s with the US House Speaker in California.
To date, however, the drills have not been as extensive as those that followed Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August of last year.
Taiwan views itself as a sovereign nation. It is seen as a rebellious province by China, which must be brought back under Beijing’s control.
Taiwan reported another 70 warplanes and 11 ships in its surrounding waters on Monday.
A map of flight paths released by Taiwan’s defense ministry depicted four J-15 fighter jets to the island’s east, indicating that for the first time, the Chinese military is simulating attacks from the east rather than the west, where China’s mainland is located.
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Taiwan, in the eyes of China, is a province that has broken away from Beijing and will be brought back under Beijing’s control by any means necessary, including the use of force.
In a statement released on Monday, the Chinese military confirmed that the Shandong had “participated” in Monday’s exercises. It was reported that multiple waves of simulated attacks on vital targets were conducted using fighter planes armed with real bullets.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that the Shandong conducted air operations in the preceding days.
On the aircraft carrier, jet fighters and helicopters took off and landed 120 times between Friday and Sunday, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense.
Also on Monday, the United States sent the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius through a portion of the South China Sea approximately 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) south of Taiwan.
China claimed that the ship had “illegally entered” its territorial waters, while the United States maintained that the operation was by international law.
Following President Tsai’s meeting with Kevin McCarthy, the third-highest-ranking US government official, Washington repeatedly urged Beijing to exercise restraint. In the meantime, Beijing had warned the United States and Taiwan of “firm countermeasures” if Ms. Tsai met Mr. McCarthy.
China announced the military exercises after foreign dignitaries, including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, had departed the country.
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China conducted four days of unprecedented military exercises in August, including the firing of ballistic missiles into the waters around Taiwan, in response to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taiwan.
On his flight out of China, he warned reporters that Europe ran the risk of becoming “entangled in crises that are not ours,” which would make it more difficult to achieve “strategic autonomy.”
The Chinese military exercises began on Saturday after Ms. Tsai returned from her 10-day trip to the United States and Central America.
In the wake of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taiwan last August, China conducted four days of unprecedented military exercises, during which it fired ballistic missiles into the waters surrounding Taiwan. Since the 1990s, Ms. Pelosi was the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan.
However, some analysts assert that the impact of such military exercises may diminish over time.
Ian Chong, a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China, remarked, “To maintain the same fear factor, [China] will have to ratchet it up more and more each time, as their actions will eventually normalize.”
Since 1949, when the Chinese Civil War turned in favor of the Chinese Communist Party and the country’s previous ruling government fled to Taiwan, Taiwan’s status has been unclear.
Reunification with Taiwan must be accomplished as President Xi Jinping of China has put it.
China and Taiwan: Fundamentals
Why do China and Taiwan’s relations suffer? China claims the self-governing island as its own and says it must be annexed by any means necessary.
How is Taiwan governed?
The island has its constitution, democratically elected leaders, and approximately 300,000 active military personnel.
Who acknowledges Taiwan?
Only a handful of nations recognize Taiwan. Instead, the majority recognize the Chinese government in Beijing. The United States is legally obliged to provide Taiwan with military defenses, despite the absence of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
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