The Chinese army said on Monday that it had “successfully completed” its military maneuvers aimed at encircling the autonomous island of Taiwan for three days, which detected 12 warships and 91 planes on the last day of the operation.
From April 8 to 10, the Chinese military command “successfully completed various ‘military readiness’ tasks around the island of Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as a province of China, with the Joint Sword exercise,” the report said. army in a message posted on social networks.
It has “extensively tested its ‘joint’ combat capability under real conditions”, added the Chinese command, specifying “to be ready for combat, at any time, and resolved to crush any form of separatism for the ‘Taiwan independence and attempted foreign interference’.
Denounced by Taiwan and the United States, which called for “restraint” while deploying a destroyer in waters claimed by Beijing, these maneuvers received support from Russia on Monday.
“China has the sovereign right to react (to) provocative actions” of the United States, “in particular by conducting maneuvers”, declared the spokesman of the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.
Beginning on Saturday, the Chinese maneuvers were aimed at protesting against a meeting Wednesday of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen with the Speaker of the American House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
They “serve as a serious warning against collusion between separatist forces seeking Taiwan independence and outside forces, as well as their provocative activities”, warned a spokesman for the Chinese army, Shi Yi.
The objective was to simulate a “closure” of the territory of 23 million inhabitants claimed by Beijing, explained the Chinese army. And in particular an “air blockade”, according to state television CCTV.
“Taiwan independence and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are mutually exclusive,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
After the maneuvers ended, Taiwan’s foreign ministry accused China of undermining “peace and stability” in the region.
The Chinese Army’s Eastern Theater Command said Shandong, one of China’s two aircraft carriers, had “participated in today’s exercise”.
Fighter planes and warships simulated targeted bombardments against the island.
Taipei said 12 warships were detected around the island as of 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) Monday. “The army will never relax its efforts to strengthen its combat readiness,” assured the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense.
The United States also appeared to want to show force: the American destroyer USS Milius carried out a “freedom of navigation operation” in an area of ??the South China Sea claimed by Beijing on Monday. An “intrusion” immediately denounced by China.
Japan said it had launched fighter jets in recent days in response to those taking off and landing from the aircraft carrier Shandong.
In a video posted on the Army’s Eastern Theater Command WeChat account on Monday, a Chinese pilot said he “arrived near the northern part of the island of Taiwan” with missiles “locked 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 screen.
Something to worry about: “We ordinary people just want a simple and stable life,” Lin Ke-qiang, a 60-year-old resident of Beigan Island in the Matsu archipelago, told AFP. in Taiwan but is visible from the Chinese coast.
“If a war comes, now that their missiles are so advanced, we have no chance of resisting, we will be crushed”, adds this man.
China views with displeasure the rapprochement in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States which, despite the absence of official relations, provides the island with substantial military support.
It considers Taiwan as a province that it has not yet managed to reunify 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.
Monday’s live-fire exercises were planned in the Taiwan Strait near the coast of Fujian (east), the province facing the island, according to local Chinese maritime authorities.
The last major deployment around the island was in August, when China engaged in unprecedented military maneuvers around Taiwan and fired missiles in response to a visit to the island by Democrat Nancy Pelosi, then president of the US House of Representatives.
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04/10/2023 18:18:39 – Pingtan (Chine) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP