China deployed planes and ships on Monday to surround Taiwan as part of a military operation intended as a ‘serious warning’ to ‘separatists’ on the island. Washington is on alert.
The United States, which had warned on Friday against any ‘provocation’ from Beijing towards Taipei after acrimonious exchanges between the two neighbors, denounced ‘unjustified’ operations which represent a ‘risk of escalation’ .
Washington has recognized Beijing to the detriment of Taipei as a legitimate power since 1979, but remains Taiwan’s most powerful ally and its main arms supplier.
China called these new exercises “serious warnings” against the “separatist actions of the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces.” “This is a legitimate and necessary operation to safeguard state sovereignty and national unity,” said Captain Li Xi, spokesperson for the Chinese army’s Eastern Command.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has called a security meeting over these maneuvers which “contradict international law”, according to security chief Joseph Wu.
The exercises, called Joint Sword-2024B, take place ‘in areas to the north, south and east of the island of Taiwan’, managed independently, explained Captain Li Xi.
They ‘focus on sea-air combat readiness patrols, blockade of ports and key areas’, ‘assault of maritime and land targets’ as well as ‘joint acquisition of overall superiority’, a- he added.
‘Irrational’
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry condemned China’s ‘irrational and provocative behavior’ on Monday, saying it had ‘deployed adequate forces to respond appropriately with the aim of protecting freedom and democracy, as well as defending sovereignty’ from Taiwan.
‘Faced with the enemy threat, all the officers and soldiers of the country are ready (…) We are determined and confident (of being able) to ensure the defense of national security,’ the ministry added in a statement. press release.
An AFP team near Hsinchu Air Base in northern Taiwan saw four fighter jets take off on Monday.
The Chinese coast guard, for its part, explained that it had initiated ‘inspections of law enforcement in the waters surrounding the island of Taiwan’.
The Taiwanese coast guard confirmed the presence of vessels from their Chinese counterparts. ‘Several boats’ crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait – referring to the line that bisects this 180 kilometer wide strait between the island and mainland China – and remained ‘in our northern waters, southwest and east in the form of convoys,’ they said in a statement.
China considers Taiwan as a part of its territory to be reunited one day and has never renounced using military force to regain control.
It has increased pressure in recent years by strengthening its military activity around the island, maintaining a near-constant presence using military planes and ships.
Beijing has organized three series of large-scale maneuvers in the past two years, using its air force and navy to encircle the island.
On Sunday, the Taiwanese army claimed to be ‘on alert’ after detecting the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning to the south of the island.
‘Separatist’
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been terrible since 2016 and the arrival as Taiwanese president of Tsai Ing-wen, then of her successor Lai Ching-te in 2024.
Invested in May, Mr. Lai pledged on Thursday to ‘resist the Chinese annexation’ of the island or ‘the encroachment of (its) sovereignty’, during the Taiwanese national day.
He also expressed his wish to have ‘healthy and orderly dialogue and exchanges’ with China, calling on Beijing to use its influence instead to help resolve conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Beijing, which describes Mr. Lai as a ‘separatist’, reacted by warning that the Taiwanese president’s ‘provocations’ would lead to a ‘disaster’ for his people.
China’s official television channel CCTV broadcast a video on Monday titled: ‘The bigger the provocation, the tighter the reins will be.’
In another video published by state media, Lt. Col. Fu Zhengnan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, said the exercises could “transform into combat at any time.”
‘If Taiwan separatists provoke (China) once’, Chinese troops around the island ‘will take action’, he assured.
‘I’m not going to panic too much because they often do maneuvers,’ Benjamin Hsiao, a resident of Taipei, told AFP. ‘I’m a little insensitive to it,’ added this engineer.
Beijing has long tried to block contacts between Taipei and its international partners in order to isolate it, preventing it from participating in global forums and putting pressure on its rare official supporters.
/ATS
