Chinese troops are rehearsing to encircle Taiwan during a three-day military exercise.
Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China, called the operation a “stern warning” to the Taiwanese authorities.
The drills began hours following Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen returned from the United States.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said 71 Chinese military aircraft and nine ships crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The line is an unofficial dividing line between the territories of mainland China and Taiwan.
Chinese state media said the exercise would “simultaneously organize patrols and advances around the island of Taiwan, forming an all-round encirclement and deterrence situation”.
The Chinese military also deployed “long-range rocket launchers, naval destroyers, missile boats, Air Force fighter jets, bombers, jammers and tankers,” the report added.
China’s “Liberation Army Daily” quoted the spokesman of the Eastern Theater Command, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, as saying that the exercise is a serious warning once morest “Taiwan independence” separatist forces colluding with external forces and provocations, and it is a necessary action to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Many Chinese netizens believe that the mainland military exercise has no real effect. However, Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, commented that the Taiwan authorities are afraid of the large-scale military exercises of the People’s Liberation Army. Understand the reaction mechanism of the Taiwan military.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign country with its own constitution and leaders.
But China views Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing’s control, by force if necessary. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said that “unification” with Taiwan must be achieved.
The “siege” was seen as a response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, despite China’s frequent drills near Taiwan.
A State Department spokesman said the United States was “closely monitoring Beijing’s actions” and insisted that the United States “has sufficient resources and capabilities in the region to ensure peace and stability and to meet our national security commitments”.
Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday her government would continue to cooperate with the United States and other democracies as Taiwan faced China’s “continued authoritarian expansionism”.
She made the comments while meeting in Taipei with a U.S. congressional delegation led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul.
McCall said Washington was working hard to provide arms to Taiwan “not for war, but for peace.”
Taiwan reaction
In Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, residents did not appear disturbed by the latest move by mainland China.
“I think a lot of Taiwanese are used to it now, and it feels like, here we go once more!” Jim Tsai said.
At the same time, Michael Chuang said: “They (China) seem to like to do this, to treat Taiwan as their own and surround them, and I’m used to it now.”
“If they invade, we’re not going to get away anyway. We’ll see what happens in the future and go from there.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense stated that it will respond to mainland China’s exercises “with a calm, rational and serious attitude” in line with the principle of “not intensifying conflicts, not provoking disputes, and safeguarding national sovereignty and security.”
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met in California on April 5, 2023. This is the highest-level meeting between Taiwan and the US in the US since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US in 1979.
After Tsai Ing-wen transited through the United States, on Friday (April 7) China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said that China has decided to take disciplinary measures once morest the Taiwan Vision Foundation and the Asian Freedom and Democracy Alliance, prohibiting their leaders from entering the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau In the special administrative region, relevant organizations and individuals in the mainland are prohibited from cooperating with it.
Zhu Fenglian said that under the instigation of the DPP authorities, the two institutions, under the pretext of democracy, freedom, and cooperation, under the banner of academic exchanges and seminars, peddled Taiwan independence ideas in the international arena, and tried their best to win over anti-China forces. Events that violate the one-China principle, such as China, Taiwan, and two Chinas, have expanded Taiwan’s so-called international space.
Last August, Beijing conducted maneuvers around Taiwan for nearly a week following McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taipei.
The drills, China’s largest show of force in recent years, included the deployment of fighter jets and warships, as well as ballistic missile launches.