BEIJING (AP) –Recent Chinese air and sea drills simulating an encirclement of Taiwan were intended as a “serious warning” to pro-independence politicians on the self-governing island and their foreign supporters, China said Wednesday, as signs emerged that Beijing will take further action.
His three-day massive air-and-sea exercise, called Joint His Sword, ended Monday after Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen met U.S. House Speaker Kevin in California during a transit visit to the United States last week. It was done in response to meeting with McCarthy. China had seriously warned of the consequences if this meeting took place.
Despite saying the exercises are over, China has continued to put military pressure on Taiwan in recent days, suggesting it will do more.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport said Wednesday it had received notice from the Civil Aviation Administration of China to set up a “flight restricted” control zone over parts of northern Taiwan from April 16 to 18. .
An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese support maintaining its current de facto independence status, but President Tsai said the island’s democracy was already an independent state, so no formal declaration was needed. rice field.
Despite that, China, which does not recognize Taiwan’s government institutions and has cut off contact with Tsai’s administration, routinely accuses her of plotting formal independence with outside backing — generally seen as referring to the U.S.
Zhu also repeated China’s assertion that its military threats are “targeted at Taiwan’s independence separatist activities and interference from external forces, and by no means at our compatriots in Taiwan.”
The Chinese military issued a threat as it concluded the exercises, saying its troops “can fight at any time to resolutely smash any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ and foreign interference attempts.”
In August, after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China conducted missile strikes on targets in the seas around Taiwan and sent warships and warplanes over the median line of the Taiwan Strait. It also fired missiles over the island that landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone in a significant escalation.
The most recent exercises focused more on air strength, with Taiwan reporting more than 200 flights by Chinese warplanes. On Monday alone, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry tracked 91 flights by Chinese warplanes.
They also featured the use of China’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier, Shandong, which launched dozens of J-15 Flying Shark fighter missions during the exercises, according to Japanese officials. Taiwanese military officials said they were aware that Shandong had appeared in the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan, and that it was the focus of their discussions and preparedness plans.
“It is clear to everyone that China’s ability to cross the first island chain is gradually improving. So-called ‘anti-invasion/area denial’ capabilities are gradually improving,” said Li Tianlongzhong. At a press conference on Wednesday, General said, referring to a military concept in which the military prevents the enemy from entering a particular location.
Defense experts say China is likely to use Shandong to try to block foreign forces from accessing the region, based on maneuver moves. Taiwan will begin its annual large-scale exercise on Thursday, along with the disaster service and the Ministry of Defense, as well as local governments. Last year, the government revised its disaster preparedness training to include more wartime scenarios. This year will continue that trend, they said, with war preparations making up 70 percent of the exercises.
The deployment comes as the USS Nimitz Carrier Group operates in the South China Sea south of Taiwan, with U.S. and Philippine forces conducting the largest combat exercises in decades in the disputed South China Sea and Philippine waters across the Taiwan Strait.
