Simulating targeting airports, silencing radars, and destroying Taiwan’s infrastructure, this is the outcome of the second day of the Chinese army’s unprecedented exercises around the island of Taiwan.
A military expert explains to “Sky News Arabia” what it means for the Chinese army to use the term “simulation” in its exercises to strike the island, and why with this step these maneuvers are more dangerous than the previous ones that they conducted around Taiwan in August 2022.
On Sunday, the Chinese army continued military maneuvers surrounding the island of Taiwan, which it began on Saturday and will last for 3 days, and said in a statement that it is a “serious warning to Taiwanese separatists”; Because they are “in cahoots with outside forces.”“.
The maneuvers came to express Beijing’s anger at the meeting of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, in the United States, with American leaders, during her transit to and from countries in Central America, and China considered that the meeting aimed to provide American support for what it calls “separatists” in Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory..
The outcome of the first day
- According to Chinese television, the forces carried out simulations to target airports, radars, and Taiwan’s infrastructure, and trained to deliver accurate multi-target strikes..
- Deploying dozens of aircraft and flying most of them in the “targeted airspace.”“.
- The forces mobilized destroyers, fast missile launchers, fighters, and jamming devices to target vehicles and personnel.
- The army also announced that the third day of the maneuvers, scheduled for Monday, will take place near the coast of Fujian, and heavy naval vessels will participate in the maneuvers..
Taiwan monitors 3 Chinese warships and a helicopter near the island
What does simulated intrusion mean?
In the estimation of the expert in military affairs, Haitham Al-Sibai, the Chinese maneuvers around Taiwan this time appeared more organized, and China did not hesitate to announce that these maneuvers were a simulation of striking the island, and this sends the following indications:
- The television footage that was broadcast showed barges and heavy military equipment getting ready to target sites inside the island. What suggests the implementation of an expanded attack.
- Directing cannons, missiles, and launchers towards a site is considered, according to military laws, aggression, and this is what China did in its maneuvers.
- The term simulation indicates that the participating military equipment received the coordinates of certain locations, and recorded them on their routers and signaling devices in preparation for the strike..
- Such maneuvers are tantamount to a military insult to the party once morest which these maneuvers are being carried out.
Easy to invade Taiwan
China has what makes it control the island in record time, according to the expert in military affairs, especially since it did not receive direct military aid much greater than that which Ukraine received from America..
And prove that:
- Taiwan’s area is much smaller than Ukraine’s; Therefore, controlling it will not require much effort.
- It is also an island in the middle of the waters, and it can only receive aid by sea and air, and in the event of a naval blockade, the transfer of aid will be impossible..
China believes that Taiwan is part of it and under its sovereignty, and threatens to use military force to annex it in the event of acts supporting separatism there..
The conflict over Taiwan flared up following 1949, which witnessed the armed struggle between the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong and the Kuomintang Party, which ended with the latter’s withdrawal to Taiwan and its declaration as an independent state in the name of the Republic of China..
On the other hand, China is now known as People’s China, and the United States has supported Taiwan, and has now become one of its most important arms suppliers, and a strong ally through which it has a strong presence in the Taiwan Strait, through which more than half of the world’s containers pass annually, moving from China, Japan and South Korea. to Europe and the United States.
The strait is also the world’s busiest waterway, with 88 percent of the world’s largest ships passing through it.
