Published on : 07/08/2022 – 13:53
China was set to wrap up its biggest-ever military maneuvers around Taiwan on Sunday, an angry reaction to a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The show of force is coming to an end: China was closing on Sunday August 7 its largest military maneuvers ever conducted around Taiwanan angry reaction to visit by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on the island that has plunges relations between Beijing and Washington lowest in years.
U.S. number three Nancy Pelosi sparked China’s fury with her visit Tuesday and Wednesday, the largest by an American lawmaker to Taiwan in 25 years. Beijing reacted by suspending a series of Sino-American bilateral talks and cooperation, including on climate change and defence.
The Chinese military has also launched the largest military exercises in its history, deploying fighter jets, warships and ballistic missiles in what analysts consider a mock blockade and invasion of Taiwan.
On Sunday, it conducted “joint practical exercises at sea and in the airspace surrounding the island of Taiwan, as planned”, said the Chinese army’s Eastern Command, which oversees the country’s eastern maritime space – and therefore Taiwan.
These exercises were intended to “test joint firepower in the field and long-range air strike capabilities”, he added.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that China had deployed “planes, ships and drones” around the strait, “to simulate attacks on the main island of Taiwan and on boats in our waters”.
Other “live fire” exercises planned
These vast maneuvers were to be completed at midday, even if Beijing intends to conduct new “live fire” exercises until August 15 in the Yellow Sea which separates China from the Korean peninsula.
Taiwan’s transport ministry said that as of noon, six of the seven “temporary danger zones” that China had asked airlines to avoid had returned to normal, a sign that the drills were coming to an end.
“The flights and navigations concerned may gradually resume,” he said in a statement.
The seventh zone, located in waters east of Taiwan, will remain to be avoided until Monday 10 a.m. (2 a.m. GMT), according to the same source.
On the Chinese side, the Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for confirmation of the end of the maneuvers.
To prove how close it had come to the Taiwanese coast, the Chinese army on Saturday published a photo it said it took from one of its military ships, showing a Taiwanese navy building just a few hundred meters away. . This shot may be the closest to the Taiwanese coastline ever taken by mainland Chinese forces.
The Chinese military has also released video of one of its fighter pilots showing the coastline and mountains of Taiwan from its cockpit in full flight.
According to Chinese state television CCTV, missiles flew over Taiwan this week during exercises around the island – which would be a first.
Taipei has consistently condemned the moves in recent days, lambasting its “malicious neighbour” and calling on Beijing on Saturday to “immediately stop raising tension and carrying out provocative actions aimed at intimidating the Taiwanese people”.
A warning from Beijing
Several experts explained to AFP that these exercises served as a warning: the Chinese army now seems able to conduct a total blockade of the island and prevent American forces from coming to its aid.
“In some areas, its capabilities may even exceed those of the United States,” notes Grant Newsham, a former US Navy officer and researcher at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies.
“If a (future) battle is confined to an area directly around Taiwan, then the Chinese navy will be a strong opponent. And if… the Americans and the Japanese do not intervene, things will be very difficult for Taiwan.”
The scale of the maneuvers and Beijing’s decision to withdraw from crucial bilateral climate and defense dialogues have triggered a shower of condemnation from the United States and its allies.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced Saturday in Manila the “total disproportion” of the Chinese reaction.
China should not “hostage” talks on issues such as climate change because it “doesn’t punish the United States, but the whole world”, he added.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that “it is impossible to solve the world’s most pressing problems without effective dialogue and cooperation between the two countries”, according to his spokesperson.
With AFP