2022-08-10 12:04 Last update: 12:07
U.S. Pentagon officials claimed on the 8th local time that “the U.S. military will pass through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks” and will also conduct “freedom of navigation operations” in other regions to demonstrate “support for allies and partners.” Under the current situation, what new tricks will the US warship do to send wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” forces? Will the USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76 cross the Taiwan Strait?
US Pentagon officials claimed that “US troops will pass through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks”.
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The Global Times quoted a number of military experts and pointed out that the possibility of the United States sending an aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait cannot be ruled out, but the probability is low. But no matter which way the U.S. military wants to demonstrate its presence, the PLA is prepared for various military struggles.
In disregard of China’s opposition and representations, Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan region under the connivance and arrangement of the US government, seriously endangering the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait. AP picture
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Colin Carr, the undersecretary of the US Department of Defense for Policy Affairs, announced the relevant news on the 8th, claiming to let China know that the US military force in the region will continue to pass through the so-called “international waters” such as the Taiwan Strait by sea and air.
John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the White House National Security Council, also claimed recently that Washington will also conduct “standard air and sea crossing operations” through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks, and that US Defense Secretary Austin has instructed the USS Reagan and other aircraft carriers. The warships in its strike group remained nearby to “monitor the situation”.
The last time an American ship sailed through the Taiwan Strait and made public hype was the guided-missile destroyer USS Benford on July 19. The Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army organized sea and air forces to monitor and monitor the entire process. What the U.S. military will do in the Taiwan Strait has drawn attention from all walks of life.
Whether the Reagan will sail through the Taiwan Strait has become the biggest suspense. AP picture
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The latest satellite images on the 9th showed that the USS Reagan aircraft carrier strike group was circling in the western Pacific Ocean. From the 8th to the noon of the 9th, the Reagan turned back and moved about 200 nautical miles to the northeast, getting farther and farther from the Taiwan Strait. However, according to the current public information, the United States will definitely send warships through the Taiwan Strait in the near future.
Tian Shichen, a retired navy colonel and director of the International Military Action Law Research Center of the Economics Think Tank, told the Global Times reporter that according to relevant international laws, the Taiwan Strait is an international strait where warships of various countries can pass freely. Warships also pass through the Taiwan Strait normally, and their freedom of navigation has never been hindered. The US has hyped up the Taiwan Strait as cheap public relations. It not only tries to support the “Taiwan independence” forces, but also expresses its so-called “security commitment” to its allies by brushing its presence.
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What is currently uncertain is whether the US military will maintain a routine passage through the Taiwan Strait this time, or will deliberately create some tricks to show its “strong presence” in the region. The biggest suspense is whether the U.S. military will once again follow the example of the “Nimitz” aircraft carrier crossing the Taiwan Strait directly during the “Taiwan Strait Crisis” in 1996, and send an aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait.
The Global Times quoted an unnamed US expert who believed that the US would not give up Taiwan as a pawn to create crisis events in the surrounding areas. The so-called “competition” on the surface would achieve its hard goal of substantive confrontation of destroying China’s internal and external development environment. Therefore, the US It will definitely demonstrate its presence in the Taiwan Strait and will not give up sending warships through the Taiwan Strait.
He said, “Unlike Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, sending an aircraft carrier will be the decision of the Biden administration, which has previously emphasized the need to build a ‘guardrail’ between China and the United States. If the United States sends an aircraft carrier to the Taiwan Strait to demonstrate the so-called “Freedom of Navigation” is bound to further intensify the confrontation between the two countries.”
Military expert Zhang Xuefeng said in an interview that if the United States sends the USS Ronald Reagan and its formation in the Philippine Sea to pass through the Taiwan Strait, it will release an extremely significant threat and provocative signal, which is completely incomparable to one or two destroyers. After the Chinese side announced the training information around the island, the U.S. aircraft carrier left the relevant waters to “take shelter from the limelight”.
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Compared with the last “Taiwan Strait Crisis”, the strength of the People’s Liberation Army is different.
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Zhang Xuefeng believes that, unlike when the “Taiwan Strait Crisis” occurred in the mid-1990s, the current strength of the PLA is different from that of the United States horizontally or vertically. Today, the PLA’s various anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft missiles can cover the waters and airspace of the Taiwan Strait, and even rocket launchers can cover the Taiwan Strait. Presumably American aircraft carrier crews don’t want to feel the feeling of rockets whizzing past their heads.
It is also possible for the U.S. military to render the effect by taking means that have not been done before. Hu Bo, director of the “South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Program”, said that the U.S. military has run out of tricks, but one should be vigilant. It is possible for U.S. ships and planes to travel together in the next step, which was not available before.
Military expert Song Zhongping said that from the current point of view, the Reagan is getting further and further away from the Taiwan Strait. He believes that the U.S. military has been evaluating whether to send the USS Reagan to cross the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. military may adopt a compromise method, that is, to send the destroyers and frigates in the aircraft carrier formation to perform the task, so as to demonstrate the strong presence of the United States.
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But no matter which way the U.S. military wants to demonstrate its presence, the PLA is prepared for various military struggles. Song Zhongping said that if the U.S. ship sails normally through the Taiwan Strait, the PLA can keep an eye on it and not take action. If the U.S. shows off its might in the Taiwan Strait, or even makes threatening actions by taking off and landing ships and planes, the PLA fighter jets and warships will not rule out approaching. intercept.
However, it is worth noting that it is not enough to observe the actions of the US military through whether the US ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on a regular basis in August, but needs to be observed in a longer time line.
Zhou Bo, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and Security Studies at Tsinghua University, said that the PLA’s normalized exercise across the central line of the strait is a new watershed in the eyes of Americans. The United States may not be willing to accept the “new normal”, so it is bound to take some “tough actions” to demonstrate the “voice” of the United States, even if it is symbolic, to show the so-called “security commitment” to allies and partners.
Another anonymous military expert also said that the U.S. military ignored the facts and accused the PLA’s military operations around the Taiwan Strait that “changed the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.” Relevant actions are high probability events.
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