China announced ‘significant military activities’ in the Shandong Peninsula, close to the Korean Peninsula, and off the west coast.
It is considered unusual because it is a time when the US-China strategic competition and military tensions on the Korean Peninsula are escalating.
Let’s connect to China to find out more. Correspondent Kang Jeong-gyu!
[기자]
Yes, this is Beijing.
[앵커]
Has China made public what major military activities it announced this morning?
[기자]
The civil navigation ban time announced by China was from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm today on Korean clocks.
Now is the time for the end of the ‘significant military activity’ that China predicted.
It hasn’t been revealed what it is yet.
However, there are some clues to speculate in the contents of the announcement in China.
First, it was said to be a major military activity, but the ban on sailing was as short as 3 hours, and the location was offshore in the south of Qingdao, not far from the mainland.
It is also worth noting that unlike the recent notice of prohibition of navigation, it was not a notice of live ammunition shooting.
It is possible to speculate that on the 23rd, ahead of the Chinese Navy Day, a rehearsal for the maritime parade was held.
Next is the possibility of a sea operation test of China’s third new aircraft carrier, Fujian, which was announced in April.
Fujian previously held a launching ceremony at a shipyard in Shanghai in June last year.
If the Fujian ship enters Qingdao this time, the possibility of being deployed to the North Sea Fleet targeting the Korean Peninsula is also raised.
[앵커]
Does that mean there wasn’t a massive military exercise?
[기자]
Not necessarily.
In August 2018, China used the expression ‘significant military activity’ when it announced a navigation ban.
At that time, 10 warships were mobilized to conduct an anti-ship missile interception drill in the far sea south of the Shandong Peninsula, about 120 km from this no-go zone.
However, since shooting with live ammunition was not known at that time, it was a form of mock training to master the interception procedure.
During the Trump presidency, it was interpreted as a kind of armed demonstration toward the United States amid the escalating trade conflict between the United States and China.
[앵커]
Since the US-China strategic competition and military confrontation are now more serious than in 2018, we cannot rule out armed demonstrations.
[기자]
Recently, not only North Korea but also China are on edge over the frequent sorties of US military strategic weapons to the Korean Peninsula.
On the 2nd, when the US, Japan, and South Korea maritime exercises involving the Nimitz aircraft carrier were mobilized in the southern waters of Jeju, China also conducted live-fire training for 10 days in Bohai Bay in the northern part of the West Sea.
They released a video of a large-scale maritime training that took place close to the Korean Peninsula, and started to contain it.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed discomfort, saying that the aircraft carrier roaming around the Korean Peninsula is provoking North Korea.
Also on the 13th, when North Korea fired a solid fuel ICBM, it defended North Korea and attributed it to the US strategic weapon sortie.
China’s large-scale armed demonstration against Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the United States, and the large-scale joint training that the United States is conducting in the Philippines cannot be separated.
Allied exercises around the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea’s nuclear provocation also appear to be involved in a competition for supremacy between the United States and China on the stage of the entire Northeast Asia or the world.
So far, it has been delivered from Beijing.
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