Around Taiwan, Beijing deploys the largest war fleet in thirty years

China’s current deployment of warships in the waters around Taiwan is “the most important in almost three decades”, declared Sun Lifang, spokesperson for the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense on December 10, reports the local newspaper United Daily News (Lianhe Bao).

Sun said this time the Chinese navy deployed from Japan’s southern islands to the South China Sea, which he said poses a greater threat than previous military exercises. .

Precisely, this is the most important military maneuver since the eve of the Taiwanese presidential election of 1996. At the time, to prevent the re-election of Lee Teng-hui, seen by Beijing as a separatist, the navy and the The Chinese air force staged an unprecedented joint military exercise in the Taiwan Strait, a clash known as the “Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.”

Ninety ships

This strong reaction from Beijing did not ultimately upset the course of the election. Lee Teng-hui had been re-elected,