China’s military said on Monday it had “successfully completed” its military maneuvers aimed at encircling the self-ruled island of Taiwan for three days, which Beijing claims as a Chinese province.
From April 8 to 10, the Chinese military leadership “successfully completed various tasks” of military readiness “around the island of Taiwan through a joint sword exercise,” the military said in a social media post.
The Chinese leadership added that it had “extensively tested its” joint “combat capability” under real conditions.
Deplored by both Taiwan and the United States, which have called for “restraint” during the destroyer’s deployment in waters claimed by Beijing, the maneuvers that mobilized dozens of warships and up to about 70 aircraft on Monday received explicit political support from Russia.
“China has the sovereign right to respond (to) provocative actions” of the United States, “in particular by conducting maneuvers,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The Chinese maneuvers, which began on Saturday, were intended to protest Wednesday’s meeting of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.
objective? Simulating a “closure” of the territory of 23 million people claimed by Beijing, the Chinese military explained. And in particular an “air blockade”, according to state television CCTV.
“Taiwan independence and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are mutual,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing, adding that it is necessary to “firmly oppose any form of secession for the sake of Taiwan independence.”
The military’s Eastern Theater Command said Shandong, one of China’s two aircraft carriers, “participated in today’s drills.”
During the maneuvers, fighter jets and warships simulated targeted bombing operations on the island.
It seems that the United States also wants to show its strength: the American destroyer USS Milius carried out a “freedom of navigation operation” on Monday in an area of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. An “interference” that China immediately denounced.
Japan said it had launched fighter jets in recent days in response to those who took off and landed from the aircraft carrier Shandong.
In a video posted to the army’s Eastern Theater Command’s WeChat account on Monday, a Chinese pilot said he “arrived near the northern part of the island of Taiwan” with missiles “stuck in place.”
In another video, set to dramatic music, an officer’s whistle causes military personnel to race into position as a mock barrage over Taiwan appears on the screen.
Something residents are worried about: “We ordinary people just want a simple and stable life,” Lin Ke-qiang, 60, a resident of Began Island in the Matsu archipelago, which belongs to Taiwan but can be seen from the Chinese coast, told AFP.
And this man, who works as a chef, adds: “If a war breaks out, and now that their missiles are so advanced, we have no chance of resistance, we will be crushed.”
On Saturday, Tsai Ing-wen denounced China’s “authoritarian expansion” and stressed that Taiwan “will continue to work with the United States and other countries (…) to uphold the values of freedom and democracy.”
China looks with displeasure at the rapprochement that has occurred 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.
Taiwan is a province that has not yet been able to reunite with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Beijing aims for this reunification by force if necessary.
The live-fire exercise was planned for Monday in the Taiwan Strait near the coast of Fujian (east), the province facing the island, according to local Chinese maritime authorities.
Chinese military spokesman Shi Yi warned of the maneuvers “as serious warnings against collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and outside forces, as well as their provocative activities.”
The last major outbreak around the island was in August, when China engaged in unprecedented military exercises around Taiwan and fired missiles in retaliation for a visit to the island by then-Chairman of the Bedroom, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
