[Epoch Times, August 6, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Li Xinan interviewed and reported) After the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, the CCP began a large-scale military exercise around the island. On August 4, four Dongfeng missiles passed over Taiwan and five fell into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Military experts have analyzed and interpreted this.
On August 4, the rocket force of the Eastern Theater Command of the Communist Party of China launched a total of 11 Dongfeng missiles towards the waters surrounding the northern, southern and eastern parts of Taiwan. Subsequently, the spokesperson of the Eastern Theater Command announced that all the missiles hit the target accurately, the entire live-fire training mission has been completed, and the relevant sea and airspace control has been lifted.
According to the record on the official website of the Japanese Ministry of Defense on August 4, the Communist army launched 9 ballistic missiles between 15:00 and 16:00 that day. Five of them were presumed to be in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and were dropped in training zones in the waters near Japan, including Japan’s EEZ. It is presumed that 4 flew over the main island of Taiwan.
In response, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense responded that the main flight path of the Communist Party’s ballistic missiles (missiles) after launching is outside the atmosphere, which is not harmful to the vast ground area they fly over. ; therefore, no air defense alert was issued.
In addition, considering that the CCP’s missile fire is mainly aimed at deterring Taiwan, and in order to protect the capabilities of the military’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, information about its flight path and other information will not be released.
And the little pink on Weibo applauded for the missile “piercing the island”. Netizens asked: Is there no air defense or missile interception equipment on the island? Was it a technical mistake when the Communist missile hit Japan?
Zhang Yanting, former deputy commander-in-chief of Taiwan’s Air Force, said in an interview with The Epoch Times on the 5th that the missile passed over Taiwan because of its high altitude and was still in the stage of space flight. In inner space, the sky it passed over was not airspace. After the missile passed through, it went into space, so there is no need for Taiwan to launch anti-missile missiles.
He said, “The airspace includes the troposphere, the stratosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere. The airspace below the inner space is the airspace, and if the inner space is above the airspace, it is not the airspace, and the artificial satellites are all in the sky.”
“There are first-stage anti-missile and terminal-stage anti-missile anti-missile. Few countries have middle-stage anti-missile, but the last stage of anti-missile has to wait for it to return to the atmosphere, then it is no longer above Taiwan. Therefore, in order to save ammunition, there is no need to launch it. Anti-missile missiles.”
Zhang Yanting believes that the missiles hit Japan because it was not so thorough, and five of them landed in Japan’s economic zone. The economic sea area is 200 nautical miles, which is equivalent to 370 kilometers (an area outside the territorial waters and adjacent to the territorial sea), so of course Japan protested, because it did not send a note to Japan, and conducted missile tests in its economic waters.
“The CCP is for anti-intervention. Suppose there is an American aircraft carrier or a Japanese warship over there to attack that block. Although Japan’s economic waters are also high seas, they belong to Japan’s economic waters, and it is possible for Japan to protest. As you can imagine, of course.
“The second reason for the protest is that the place is also involved in the passage of the international air route. Since it is designated as an exercise area, the international air route has to be revised, and Japan is also affected. The Japanese are protesting these two things.” He said.
Taiwan military expert Qi Leyi also said in an interview with The Epoch Times that both Japan and Taiwan have the Patriot III weaponry to intercept missiles. The main reason for not intercepting is that, although it flew over Taiwan for the first time, it passed the airspace outside the atmosphere, not the airspace inside the atmosphere.
Second, the Taiwan side focuses more on intelligence search and analyzes its entire missile test-firing workflow. Another is to avoid escalation of the situation.
As for the five missiles falling into Japan’s economic waters, Qi Leyi believes that this was deliberately done by the CCP. “Compared with the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1995 and 1996, this missile test has an additional eastern sea area, and it flew over Japan’s air defense identification zone and landed in Japan’s economic waters. It was deliberately designed to target the United States and the United States. Japan wants to contain the United States and Japan, and if there is something wrong with Taiwan in the future, don’t get involved.”
“Because missiles can hit here, this place is an important combat direction for the United States and Japan to intervene in the Taiwan Strait. At that time, the CCP’s naval and air forces will also be concentrated in this place, so its missiles can also add one more to the naval and air forces. Layers of protection can deter the United States and Japan.”
The CCP-5 missile sunset economic area was identified as the first such accident. The Japanese side lodged a strong protest to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels, arguing that the missile launch from the military exercise seriously affected Japan’s national security.
Bloomberg quoted Yuki Tatsumi, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, as saying that the incident will raise Japanese awareness of the potential impact of contingencies in Taiwan, seeking to rapidly increase military spending and overhaul the pacifist Constitution.
The incident caused heated discussions among Japanese people on the Internet. The Japanese people believe that the CCP’s move is not only intimidating Taiwan, but also intimidating Japan’s behavior, and the voices of the people for constitutional revision are getting louder and louder.
Some Japanese netizens said, “The military exercises in Taiwan waters are a mess. The so-called retaliation for the visit of Pelosi, the No. 3 figure in the United States, is actually too much. If a missile lands in Japan or Taiwan by mistake, it will be a terrible thing. , strongly protest against such a dangerous act. The Maritime Self-Defense Force may already be on alert, and Japan will have to further strengthen its defense capabilities in the future.”
Zhang Yanting believes that the Japanese public will demand the revision of the constitution, because Japan is a non-war constitution, dedicated to defense, it should increase the defense budget moderately, because it has a ceiling of 1% defense budget. Its spending exceeds its budget, so it needs to amend the constitution to increase funding.
Qi Leyi said that because Taiwan and Japan are fundamentally connected, the Air Defense Identification Zone is connected. If Taiwan is to be attacked in the future, the seas must be closed and controlled, it must also be closed to the waters near Taiwan, including Japan. If there is something in Taiwan, there is something in Japan. This is a certainty, and these missiles have proved this. So this may be helpful for the Kishida Cabinet to amend the Constitution in the future.
“Another point is very important. Japan’s defense white paper also mentioned that Japan needs a deterrent force to attack and counteract enemy missiles? This issue is being discussed. It turned out that what Japan proposed was to conduct ‘attacks on enemy bases’. Strike’, because it was very sensitive, changed it to ‘counterattack’.”
“Locking Exercise”
The large-scale live-fire exercises in the six sea and air areas around Taiwan Island by the Eastern Theater Command of the Communist Party of China have been described as “Taiwan Locking Exercises”. Some people even say that the CCP’s current drills are more like military operations than simple exercises.
Zhang Yanting believes that at present, the eastern block has completed the task. Others may include ship-to-ship live ammunition or rocket fire, air-to-sea live ammunition, and whether there will even be missiles. The block is not over yet.
He pointed out that the pressure on Taiwan’s blockade caused by the Taiwan-locking exercise will of course be great. The exercise is divided into 7 blocks, which puts a lot of military pressure on Taiwan’s coastal defense and air defense. In this case, the atmosphere on both sides of the strait will remain high, and the atmosphere of chilling during the confrontation is very strong.
“Under such a chilling confrontation, it is not good for both sides. The CCP will also cause attrition and fatigue in the war, and so will Taiwan. It is necessary to go through dialogue and negotiation to avoid strategic misjudgment and miscalculation. You must be very cautious. , it is the best to be able to end the curtain safely,” he said.
Qi Leyi said that the missile test, including the north and south ends of Taiwan Island, all fell on the transportation line of Taiwan’s sea and air, plus the east, which indeed means a blockade. Of course, it is an exercise now, and everyone is just watching. If there is a real blockade one day, Taiwan will also have anti-blockade measures, and Japan will also have it.
“The blockade cannot be so precise, only Taiwan. We have anti-blockade measures, and the blockade will be wider, covering the entire southeastern coast of China, including Guangzhou.” He said.
Responsible editor: Ye Ziming#