The Chinese army began Thursday the largest military maneuvers in its history around Taiwan, a muscular response to the visit of the leader of the American representatives Nancy Pelosi on the island.
The military fired unidentified projectiles towards the Taiwan Strait. On Pingtan, a Chinese island near the ongoing maneuvers, reporters saw several projectiles fired at around 1:13 p.m. (0513 GMT) soaring through the sky towards the sea, followed by plumes of white smoke.
AFP was unable to identify the projectiles, fired from military installations, or determine their precise direction. Tourists who were by the sea, on this tourist island, witnessed the shooting.
If her trip to this territory claimed by China lasted less than 24 hours, Ms Pelosi sparked the fury of Beijing by being the highest elected American official to visit Taipei in 25 years.
She hammered that the United States would not abandon the island, ruled by a democratic regime and which lives under the constant threat of an invasion by the Chinese army.
In response, Beijing has launched extensive military maneuvers in six areas around Taiwan, along busy trade routes.
The exercises aim to simulate a “blockade” of the island and include “the assault of targets at sea, the striking of targets on the ground and the control of airspace”said the official New China agency.
20 kilometers from the coast
If the hypothesis of an invasion of Taiwan, populated by 23 million inhabitants, remains unlikely, it has increased since the election in 2016 of the current president Tsai Ing-wen.
On Thursday morning, Taiwan’s armed forces claimed “to prepare for war without seeking war”.
According to the Global Times newspaper, which quotes military analysts, the exercises are of a magnitude “unprecedented” because missiles will fly over Taiwan for the first time.
These exercises will take place in a variety of areas encircling Taiwan – sometimes just 20 kilometers from the Taiwanese coast – and will last until Sunday noon.
“If the Taiwanese forces voluntarily come into contact with (the Chinese army) and accidentally fire a shot, (the Chinese army) will retaliate vigorously and it will be up to the Taiwanese side to bear all the consequences”told AFP an anonymous military source within the Chinese army.
Authorities on the island have denounced the program, saying it threatens East Asian security.
For Beijing, these exercises – as well as others, more limited, started in recent days – are “a necessary and legitimate measure” after Mrs. Pelosi’s visit.
“It is the United States that are the provocateurs, and China that is the victim. China is in self-defense.assured the press Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.