China continues its large-scale military maneuvers near Taiwan for the third consecutive day. It is in retaliation for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week. The Eastern Theater Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army said it “has successfully completed the three-day patrol and combat readiness objectives” around the island of Taiwan, according to a statement from spokesman Shi Yi. The exercises, called “joint sword-sharpening maneuvers”, involved the northern, southern and eastern air and sea spaces of the island of Taiwan from April 8 to 10, testing an encirclement and a blockade, also mobilizing the aircraft carrier Shandong with his strike group.
Tension China – Taiwan, jet takes off from a Chinese aircraft carrier during exercises
This morning, Taiwan’s defense ministry said the Taiwanese military was closely monitoring the situation and had “reacted calmly.” Today, the ministry registered 59 fighter jets and 11 Chinese army vessels by 10am, within four hours. Of these, 39 aircraft had crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the Southwest Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone, a buffer zone between the island state and China.
In a large-scale exercise, the Chinese military simulated a blockade of the island of Taiwan. China’s latest military actions follow President Tsai Ing-wen’s sensitive diplomatic mission to shore up Taiwan’s dwindling alliances in Central America and boost US support, a trip capped off by a meeting with the US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
Chinese military exercises ignite Taiwan’s concerns: ‘No escalation’
A US congressional delegation also met with Tsai over the weekend in Taiwan following his return. State broadcaster CCTV, citing the PLA, said the exercises were “simulating the joint blockade” of Taiwan, as well as “waves of simulated attacks” on important targets on the island. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army, PLA, said the aircraft carrier Shandong was also deployed for the first time. The PLA also showed a video of a fighter jet taking off from the ship’s deck, according to a post by the PLA’s Eastern Command on Weibo, the social media platform.
The historic meeting in California between the speaker of the US House and the president of Taiwan
Multiple H-6K fighters “carrying live ammunition carried out multiple waves of simulated attacks on important targets in Taiwan,” the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said in a statement, specifying that the aircraft carrier Shandong “participated to today’s exercises.
China: “Military maneuvers are a stern warning to secessionist forces”
China warns that “Taiwan independence and peace are mutually exclusive scenarios”. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in the daily briefing “that the joint sword-sharpening exercises of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which started on Saturday and should end today aiming to encircle the island” are “a stern warning for the secessionist forces of Taiwan and their collusion with external forces”, as well as “actions necessary to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Beijing considers Taipei an “inalienable” part of its territory.