China’s military has declared that it is “ready to fight and smash Taiwan’s independence” after completing three days of large-scale combat exercises around the self-ruled island nation.
The Chinese military said the so-called Joint Sword “combat readiness patrols” were meant to sound a warning to Taiwan, simulating the island’s entire closure in a military blockade.
“The theater forces are ready for combat at all times and can fight at any time to resolutely smash any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ and attempts at foreign interference,” she said on Monday.
The exercise was similar to one conducted by Beijing last August, when it launched missile strikes on targets in the seas around Taiwan in retaliation for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island – which Chinese President Xi Jinping considers part of China.
Military experts say the exercises serve as intimidation and an opportunity for Chinese forces to practice sealing off Taiwan by blocking sea and air traffic, an important strategic option the Chinese military might pursue should it use military force to seize Taiwan.
China’s military has declared that it is “ready to fight and smash Taiwan’s independence” after completing three days of large-scale combat exercises around the self-ruled island nation.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense tweeted a video showing PLA ships and aircraft in its territory, with the caption: 70 aircraft and 11 ships detected by 16:00 (UTC+8) April 9. 35 of the detected aircraft crossed the northern, central and southern midline of the Taiwan Strait and entered the southwest region of the ADIZ.
Beijing’s war games took off amid Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s delicate mission to shore up her country’s waning diplomatic alliances in Central America and shore up its support for the United States.
Tsai met US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week, before a US congressional delegation met her again over the weekend in Taiwan upon her return home.
China immediately responded to the McCarthy meeting by imposing travel bans and financial penalties on those linked to Tsai’s trip to the United States and by increasing military activity over the weekend.
Beijing says contact between foreign officials and the island’s democratic government emboldens Taiwanese movements that want formal independence from China, a move that the ruling Chinese Communist Party says will lead to war.
The two sides split in 1949 after a civil warThe Communist Party says the island is obligated to return to the mainland, by force if necessary.
“China wants to use any increase in diplomatic interactions between the United States and Taiwan as an excuse to train its military,” said Ko Yu-jin, a defense studies expert and director of the Institute for National Policy Research in Taiwan.
After Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year, China launched missile strikes on targets in the seas around Taiwan, while also sending warships and warplanes over the middle line of the Taiwan Strait. Missiles were also fired over the same island that landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, in a major escalation.
Live fire exercises have disrupted flights and shipping in one of the busiest shipping lanes for global trade.
President Tsai Ing-wen, left, returns to Taiwan from a meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.
Military experts say the exercises serve as intimidation and an opportunity for Chinese forces to practice sealing off Taiwan by blocking sea and air traffic.
Pictured: A map showing Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s airspace in Monday’s exercises
The exercises this time focused more on air power, with Taiwan reporting 200 flights of Chinese warplanes in the past three days.
China’s state broadcaster Radio and Television, citing the People’s Liberation Army, said the drill “simulates the joint seal” of Taiwan as well as “waves of simulated strikes” on important targets on the island.
On Monday, China’s People’s Liberation Army said its aircraft carrier from Shandong is taking part in exercises that encircle Taiwan for the first time. It showed a video of a fighter jet taking off from the deck of the ship in a post on the social media platform Weibo.
Han Janming, a researcher at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research, said the appearance of the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean indicates that it can be used to prevent foreign armies from coming to Taiwan’s aid.
“In the future, if there is a similar military maneuver, Taiwan will have to face it alone,” Han said.
Between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, a total of 70 aircraft were detected and crossed the middle half of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary accepted by both sides tacitly, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.
Among the aircraft that crossed the Mediterranean were eight J-16 fighter jets, four J-1 fighters, eight Su-30 fighters, and reconnaissance aircraft. Taiwan also tracked J-15 fighter jets – not previously seen within Taiwan’s air defense zone – paired with the Shandong aircraft carrier.
A pilot was photographed operating an Air Force aircraft under the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command during combat readiness patrol and “Joint Sword” exercises around Taiwan, at an undisclosed location.
Chinese Navy ships take part in a military exercise in the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese army has sent dozens of warplanes and 11 warships towards Taiwan in a show of force
Later Monday morning, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense reported 59 more flights of the bombers, as well as several fighter jets.
This came after a full day between Friday and Saturday during which eight warships and 71 aircraft were spotted near Taiwan, according to the island’s defense ministry. In a statement, it said it was dealing with the situation from the perspective of “not escalating the conflict and not provoking disputes.”
Taiwan said it monitored Chinese moves through its land-based missile systems, as well as through its own navy ships.
Chinese military harassment of Taiwan has intensified in recent years with planes or ships being sent towards the island almost daily, with numbers rising in response to sensitive activities. Military activity has increased significantly since Pelosi’s visit, with Chinese People’s Liberation Army fighter jets regularly flying over the central border line.
Experts say that PLA Navy ships regularly ply the waters off the northeastern coast of Taiwan.
Meanwhile, further south in the South China Sea, the US 7th Fleet said its missile destroyer USS Milius had sailed by Mischief Reef in Operation Freedom of Navigation. China has built an artificial island in the sea to stake its claim to the disputed territories.
The exercises were similar to those conducted by Beijing last August, when it launched missile strikes on targets in the seas around Taiwan in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.
Taiwan said it monitored Chinese moves through its land-based missile systems, as well as through its own navy ships. Pictured: The Evening News broadcast shows Chinese fighter jets on a screen in Beijing
Experts say the People’s Liberation Army Navy ships (pictured) regularly ply the waters off Taiwan’s northeastern coast
Chinese military vehicles are pictured on the second day of military exercises around Taiwan on April 9
China has said the United States has “illegally trespassed” in waters near the reef without permission from the Chinese government, according to a statement from the Chinese military’s Southern Command.
Outside of the military exercises, Kuo said he was concerned about announcements from the Fujian Maritime Safety Administration last week, when it said it would conduct “on-site inspections” of cargo ships and work vessels in the Taiwan Strait as part of a patrol. Practice.
“They first target ships traveling between the straits, and then they target any international ship,” he said. Gradually, this will become the new reality.
One of the US representatives who attended the meeting with Tsai last week said Saturday that the United States should take seriously the threat posed by China to Taiwan.
Republican Mike Gallagher, chairman of the US House Select Committee on China, told The Associated Press that he intends to lead his committee in working to strengthen the island government’s defenses, which has encouraged Congress to speed up military aid to Taiwan.
