– China keeps up the pressure on the US and Taiwan: The drills in the Taiwan Strait were supposed to end on Sunday, but China’s military is allowing the exercises to continue. Is this the new normal?
With an extension of the maneuvers around Taiwan, China has further fueled tensions around the democratic island republic. Despite initial announcements that air and sea “combat exercises” were to end on Sunday, they were still ongoing on Monday. The People’s Liberation Army has concentrated on “joint operations against submarines and naval attacks” in the Taiwan Strait straits, Chinese state television reported.
Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian described the maneuvers as a “necessary warning to the United States and Taiwan.” It was an “appropriate” reaction to their “provocations”. The tensions were “deliberately” created by the United States when the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Washington, Nancy Pelosi, traveled to Taipei last week against opposition from Beijing.
The Chinese leadership rejects such official contacts from other countries to Taipei because they see the island as part of the People’s Republic. On the other hand, Taiwan has long seen itself as independent. With the maneuvers, the People’s Liberation Army practiced not only a sea and air blockade, but also a possible conquest of the island. Some Chinese commentators suggested that the military drills are happening regularly and could become a new normal.
Still no rocket alert
“China’s military operations are ongoing,” Taiwan’s military confirmed. A spokesman in Taipei said the Democratic Island Republic’s armed forces would provide an appropriate response. He also justified the decision not to issue a missile alert in the country of 23 million people on Thursday. China launched 11 ballistic missiles that day, one of which reportedly flew near the capital, Taipei. The missiles would not have posed any danger because of their trajectory, the military spokesman asserted.
China defended the maneuvers. “China has every reason to give a strong response,” said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. The aim is to punish forces in Taiwan that want independence. Referring to the US, Wang Wenbin said those who interfered should also be warned. “Taiwan is part of China.” It is only normal to hold military exercises in one’s “own waters”.
Taiwan’s military reported that Chinese planes flew 66 sorties on Sunday alone. 22 planes crossed the unofficial, but hitherto most respected, center line of the Taiwan Strait. 14 warships also took part in the maneuvers in the strait. Taiwan’s armed forces followed the movements closely and also issued warnings over the radio.
A Chinese drone was again spotted on Sunday evening over the offshore Taiwanese island of Kinmen (Quemoy), which is only two kilometers from the Chinese coast, the Ministry of Defense in Taipei reported. There had not been a Chinese overflight of the island since the 1950s.
In other sea areas in the north in the Bohai Gulf and in the Yellow Sea and in the south in the South China Sea off the coast of Guangdong province, China’s military is planning further maneuvers this week. Taiwan has also announced artillery firing exercises in the south for Tuesday and Thursday as part of annual drills.
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