The Chinese army launched three days of military exercises in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, amid tensions with the island after a meeting in the United States of its president Tsai Ing-wen and the third figure of the American state. .
The maneuvers “serve as serious warnings against collusion between separatist forces seeking Taiwan independence and outside forces, as well as their provocative activities,” Chinese military spokesman Shi Yi said in a statement. They also include “patrols”, according to the Chinese military.
Live-fire exercises will be held Monday in the Taiwan Strait, near the coast of Fujian (east), the province facing the island, local maritime authorities also said. These exercises, which have an “operational” dimension, are intended to demonstrate that the Chinese army will be ready, “if the provocations intensify”, to “settle once and for all the question of Taiwan”, warned the analyst Song Zhongping soldier.
Taipei said the maneuvers threaten “stability and security” in the Asia-Pacific region.
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Its president, Tsai Ing-wen, denounced on Saturday an “authoritarian expansionism” on the part of China and assured that the territory “would continue to work with the United States and other countries (…) to defend the values of freedom and democracy”.
The Chinese maneuvers follow Tsai Ing-wen’s visit this week to the United States, where she met with Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday. Beijing immediately promised “firm and forceful measures” in retaliation.
Warships and aircraft
China sees with dissatisfaction the rapprochement at work in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which despite the absence of official relations provides the island with substantial military support. It considers Taiwan (23 million inhabitants) as one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
The United States recognized the People’s Republic of China in 1979 and should in theory have no official contact with the Republic of China (Taiwan), under the “one China principle” defended by Beijing.
Since Thursday, China has been stepping up military pressure on Taiwan with the dispatch of warships and aircraft to the strait. It also reinforced during the week the presence of its coastguards in the strait for exceptional patrols.
The exact location of the new maneuvers is not specified, apart from Monday’s live-fire exercises, which will take place around Pingtan, the closest point in mainland China to Taiwan. The narrowest part of the strait between the Chinese coast and the island is about 130 kilometers wide.
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On Friday, AFP journalists in Pingtan spotted a military ship and at least two military helicopters transiting the Taiwan Strait. It was unclear, however, whether the moves represented an increase in the usual number of Chinese patrols in the area.
“Delusional”
In August, Beijing launched unprecedented military maneuvers around Taiwan when Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who preceded Kevin McCarthy to roost, visited the island. The response at this point to the meeting with the American number three has nothing to compare with the summer of 2022.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said at midday on Saturday it had detected eight Chinese warships and 42 fighter jets around the island. Twenty-nine planes crossed the median line that separates China from Taiwan, the same source said.
These military maneuvers come the day after a state visit to China by Emmanuel Macron, during which the question of Taiwan was raised with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The conversation was dense and frank” on this subject, the Elysee Palace said on Friday.
“Anyone who thinks China is going to compromise on Taiwan is under illusions,” Xi Jinping assured European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday during a meeting in Beijing, according to remarks reported by Chinese diplomacy.
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