This Sunday, December 25, China carried out military exercises near Taiwan, the island it claims as its own. The exact place of the maneuvers has not been specified, nor the equipment used to carry them out.
According to the Chinese government, the actions would be a response to the “provocations” of the United States.
China views with great mistrust the rapprochement that has taken place in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, a country that has provided military support to the island for several decades.
Shi Yi, spokesman for the Eastern Theater of Operations stated that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, PLA “carried out joint combat readiness exercises bringing together various services” in the air and sea space around the island of Taiwan, as well as “joint attack exercises.”
“This is a strong response to the growing collusion and provocation between the US and Taiwanese authorities,” he stressed in a statement.
The PLA also released photos of a bomber, a warship, and an aerial landscape image showing, from the cockpit of an airplane, what is presented as a Taiwanese mountain range.
China considers Taiwan, an island with 24 million inhabitants, as one of its provinces, which it still failed to reunify with the rest of its territory following the end of the civil war in 1949.
United States and Taiwan
The rapprochement of the United States and Taiwan, which began under former US President Donald Trump, it worsened already existing tensions between China and the United States.
In August, the Chinese military held major military exercises around the island, in response to a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The vice president of the United States, on a visit to Japan last September, declared that the United States will act “fearlessly and fearlessly” in Asia, including the Taiwan Strait.
In that occasion Harris accused China of “disruptive behavior” in the East China and South China seas and “provocations in the Taiwan Strait.”
“The United States believes that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is an essential feature of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the vice president said, using Washington’s terminology for the Asia-Pacific region.
“We will continue to fly, navigate and operate fearlessly and fearlessly, wherever and whenever international law allows,” he added.
“The United States believes that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is an essential feature of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said, using Washington’s terminology for the Asia-Pacific region.
In addition, Harris insisted on Washington’s opposition to any unilateral attempt by China to seize control of Taiwan and pledged to continue supporting the island’s self-defense capabilities.
american president Joe Biden has reiterated on several occasions that his troops would come to the support of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
*With information from AFP.
