Author: Bernard Orr and Li Yimou
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) – China carried out a mock missile attack on Friday and deployed fighter jets and bombers carrying live missiles, state broadcaster CCTV said, as part of an exercise Beijing said was aimed at punishing Taiwan’s new President Lai Ching-te. .
The report also stated that bombers have set up multiple attack formations in the waters east of Taiwan, cooperating with naval ships to conduct simulated attacks. China is testing its ability to “seize power” and control key areas in Taiwan.
Three days after taking office on Monday, Jimmy Lai launched two days of drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan-controlled islands off the Chinese coast that a Taiwanese official said also included simulated bombings of foreign ships. Taiwan condemns China’s actions.
China considers democratically governed Taiwan its own territory and denounces Jimmy Lai as a “separatist”. It strongly criticized his inauguration speech, in which he urged Beijing to stop threatening and said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait “are not subordinate to each other”.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said the exercise, called “Joint Sword-2024A,” was designed to “test the ability to jointly seize power, jointly attack, and occupy key areas.”
Wu Qian, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said that this move is completely reasonable and legal, and is necessary to combat the arrogance of “Taiwan independence” and deter interference and intervention by external forces.
first island chain
A senior Taiwanese security official told Reuters that several Chinese bombers carried out simulated attacks on foreign ships near the eastern end of the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, practicing how to seize “complete control of the area west of the so-called First Strait.” “Island chain.
The first island chain refers to the area from Japan through Taiwan and the Philippines to Borneo, surrounding China’s offshore waters.
Several Chinese coast guard ships also conducted “harassment” drills off Taiwan’s east coast, including simulated inspections of civilian vessels, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.
The China Coast Guard said it conducted a “law enforcement exercise” in waters east of Taiwan on Friday, focusing on training in verification, identification, warning and expulsion.
According to CCTV reports, China’s Nantong ship was performing combat readiness patrols and actual combat drills in the Taiwan Strait, and Taiwan’s Zhenghe ship followed closely 0.6 nautical miles behind.
A public relations official for the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said they are monitoring “all activities” in the Indo-Pacific and take their responsibility to deter aggression in the region “very seriously.”
Taiwan and the United States have no formal diplomatic relations because Washington officially recognizes Beijing but is legally bound to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and is Taiwan’s most important international backer.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said in a speech in Taipei that Taiwan would not give in to pressure.
“We will not make any concessions because of this military exercise by China, because it is related to the development of Taiwan’s democracy,” he said.
“Holy Weapon”
China’s theater command played an animated video on its WeChat social media account on Friday showing missiles being launched towards Taiwan from the ground, air and sea before hitting the cities of Taipei, Kaohsiung and Hualien with fireballs. China Central Television later said China used dozens of missiles to conduct a simulated missile attack on Taiwan.
At the end of the animation, it says “The sacred weapon that kills independence” in the traditional Chinese characters used in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s armed forces have been mobilized to monitor and track Chinese troops.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense on Friday released photos of F-16 air patrols equipped with live-fire missiles.
It also showed photos of Chinese coast guard ships and Chinese Jiangdao-class frigates, but did not specify where the images were taken.
The ministry said that as of 6 a.m. Friday (2200 GMT), 49 Chinese military aircraft, 19 naval vessels and seven coast guard vessels had been sighted. Twenty-eight of the planes flew across the central line of the strait, which once served as an unofficial barrier but which China says it does not recognize.
The closest Chinese aircraft to Taiwan’s coast are 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) from the northern city of Keelung and naval base Keelung, according to maps provided by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.
Jimmy Lai has repeatedly proposed talks with China, but has been rejected. He said only the people of Taiwan can decide their future and rejected Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
Taiwan has become accustomed to China’s military threats, and recent exercises have not caused excessive panic on the island. Life is normal.
Taiwanese media covered the drills but also spent a lot of time covering the ongoing drama over controversial parliamentary reforms that have led to thousands taking to the streets in protest.
On China’s tightly regulated social media site Weibo (Nasdaq: ), “Oriental Theater” was the most searched term, with most comments supporting the drills. Another hot topic is “Taiwan’s return”.
Analysts, regional diplomats and senior Taiwanese officials noted that the drills so far are smaller than similar drills in 2022 and are widely anticipated by Taiwanese and foreign officials, but still raise the risk of accidents or miscalculations.
