Missiles in Taiwan’s sea area |
China’s maneuvers of horror
China fired missiles into Taiwanese sea territory on Thursday. The Taiwan Ministry of Defense has been talking about “eleven ballistic missiles” since Thursday 1:56 p.m.
► China ruler Xi Jinping (69) lets his military hold maneuvers until Sunday. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army marches off the coast with tanks, fighter jets and live ammunition.
Chinese state media such as CCTV and Global Times write that “the exercises are beginning” and that it is a “reunification operation”.
Background: US top politician and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (82) traveled to Taiwan on Tuesday. Before her visit, China threatened a “great catastrophe”. Traditionally, China holds its threat drills off Taiwan every July.
Nancy Pelosi (L) and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan on Wednesday
► In total, China has designated six maneuver areas around the island after US top politician Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
According to the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a total of 11 Dongfeng missiles were fired in the waters off the island republic’s coast on Thursday. China invaded Taiwan’s airspace with 22 fighter jets.
Five China missiles also landed in Japan’s economic zone.
► “This is a serious matter affecting our country’s national security and people’s security,” said Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi (63).
Conflict researcher and military historian, Professor Matthias Strohn (45), from the University of Buckingham, on BILD: “I see the Taiwan situation as highly dangerous. With a possibly greater general potential for conflict and escalation than Ukraine. The global economic consequences of a war over Taiwan would of course be many times greater than those of the Ukraine war.”
In the Taiwan conflict, China gets support from Moscow. “As for the maneuvers: That is China’s sovereign right,” said Vladimir Putin’s (69) spokesman Dmitry Peskov (54) on Thursday.
Tactics not new – but their impact has increased in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
In the run-up to Pelosi’s visit, Beijing had shipped heavy weapons to the coast by rail, highway, plane and ship. On Tuesday there was an unprecedented troop deployment in the province of Fujian, across the border from Taiwan. Military drills by China troops continued around the island of Taiwan on Wednesday, with a joint blockade, drills at sea, and land and air combat training.
“The saber-rattling rhetoric, target practice, and cyber-attacks demonstrate the full spectrum of tactics China has used continuously and in escalated form over the past decade,” said Samuel Chu, 44, founder of non-governmental organization (NGO) The Campaign for Hong Kong”, to BILD.
Chu continued, “The tactics are not new, but their impact has been amplified in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and on the eve of Xi’s unprecedented third term at the top of the CCP. But the rest of the world should not underestimate the resilience of the Taiwanese people.”
► Taiwan’s government on Thursday urged the island’s businesses to improve their cybersecurity in the coming days as authorities saw a record number of attacks on their websites amid tensions with China.
Taiwan Ambassador Jhy-Wey Shieh to BILD: “Now China has shown its true face. The willingness of the Chinese communist regime to use violence against its own people as well as against its neighbors must not be perceived and accepted without consequences.”