China this Sunday intensified his rhetoric against taiwan in it second day of his military maneuvers around the island, scheduled until this Monday, in retaliation for the meeting of the Taiwanese president with the leader of the House of Representatives of the United States, in California.
Beijing launched on Saturday three days of military exercises in the vicinity of the island as “a serious warning” against “provocation by separatist forces” and a “necessary action to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity” of China.
What is known about the exercises and why are they key? A B C.
The origin of military maneuvers
The military exercises began after the Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday.
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China waited for Tsai’s return to Taiwan and the end of the Chinese visit by French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to launch Operation Joint Sword.
(Also read: China simulates attacks against “key targets” in Taiwan)
China considers the island of Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, as one of its provinces. it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and opposes any official contact between Taipei and foreign governments.
For this reason, after the meeting on Wednesday in California between the Taiwanese president and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Beijing promised to respond with “firm and forceful” measures.
Were there other similar maneuvers before?
Yeah. These exercises are reminiscent of those that took place in August 2022 in response to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island, McCarthy’s predecessor at the head of the House of Representatives, the second American authority in the line of presidential succession.
Back then, Beijing carried out live-fire maneuvers ten kilometers off the Taiwanese coast, in a similar campaign to encircle the island that lasted a week.
However, Joint Sword appears not to be “of the same magnitude as what we saw during Pelosi’s visit” to the island, according to Manoj Kewalramani, an expert on China at the Takshashila Institution in Bangalore.
(You can read: China sends ships and aircraft near Taiwan for the second day in a row)
China is unhappy with the rapprochement in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which, despite the absence of official relations, provides the island with significant military support.
Washington is Taiwan’s main arms supplier and would be its biggest military ally in the event of a war with China, making the island one of the biggest sources of conflict between China and the United States.
What is known about the new military exercises?
China reported that it is a large military deployment around Taiwan as “a serious warning against collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and outside forces,” said a Chinese military spokesman, Shi Yi.
The maneuvers include patrols and “precision strike simulations” against “key targets” to “create a total deterrence and encirclement” of the island, according to Chinese state television CCTV.
The device also includes dozens of J-18 and J-10C combat aircraft, anti-submarine aircraft, PHL-191 rocket launcher systems and YJ-12B anti-ship land missiles.
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On Saturday, the maneuvers focused on “testing the ability of the forces to achieve control of the sea, the air and information”, which would be the “first step” in an armed conflict, according to the expert. military Fu Qianshao, quoted by Global Times.
And on Sunday, on the second day of exercises, the Chinese military simulated “precision strikes” against “key targets on the island of Taiwan and the surrounding waters,” which would be the second step in the event of an actual conflict, according to Fu. .
The island’s key targets concern military installations, specific buildings, airfields, and nodes of Taiwan’s defense system.
The Chinese government also announced that it will hold live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait near the coast of Fujian, a province off the island, on Monday.
What does Taiwan reply?
Taiwan and the United States denounced the operation, called “Joint Sword”, and asked Beijing for “restraint” while ensuring that they kept their communication channels with China open.
President Tsai denounced China’s “authoritarian expansionism” and assured that Taiwan “will continue to work with the United States and other countries (…) to defend the values of freedom and democracy.”
(Keep reading: China warns Taiwan-US meeting would be ‘serious provocation’)
Taiwan’s defense ministry also said it was responding to the maneuvers “calmly and calmly,” but added that it spotted 11 Chinese warships and 70 planes around the island on Sunday, after spotting as many ships and 71 planes on Sunday. yesterday.
Washington, for its part, reiterated this Saturday its call to “not change the status quo.” “We are confident that we have sufficient resources and capabilities in the region to ensure peace and stability,” the State Department said.
For the rest, Taiwan remains calm: the Chinese maneuvers are just one more story on the front pages of the online editions of newspapers locals like the Liberty Times or the United Daily News. Although some citizens do express their concern in the streets.
“I’m a little worried, I’d be lying if I said otherwise,” he told the AFP Donald Ho, 73, in a park in Taipei. “If there is war, both sides will suffer a lot,” he added.
Can the situation be escalated?
According to military expert Song Zhongping, the exercises, which have an “operational” dimension, they intend to demonstrate that the Chinese army will be ready, “if the provocations intensify”, to “resolve the Taiwan question once and for all”.
However, analysts agree that the new military exercises appear to be of a smaller magnitude than the one registered in August 2022.
(Also read: ‘The risks of a Chinese military action against Taiwan have increased’)
The economic situation after three years of Covid-19 and Taiwan’s strategic importance may have played a role in determining the magnitude of the new exercises, according to Su Tzu-yun, a military expert with Taiwan’s National Defense and Security Research Institute.
“The restoration of Taiwan’s air and sea lanes this year is very important for the economic recovery of neighboring countries and China itself, so military maneuvers should not be intensified,” the expert told AFP.
ANGIE RUIZ
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and EFE