It was in the framework of the military exercises that began on Saturday, in response to President Tsai’s visit to the United States.
China simulated “joint precision strikes against key targets on the island of Taiwan and the surrounding waters” in the military exercises that began on Saturday, the state media of the Asian giant reported on Sunday.
Dozens of planes were deployed to “fly in the target’s airspace” and ground forces carried out drills of “multi-target precision strikes,” Chinese public television CCTV reported.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater of Operations ordered “dozens” of raids by “early warning, reconnaissance, attack, bombing and jamming aircraft,” the channel said. In parallel, Chinese Army patrolmen “occupied attack positions” through “high-speed maneuvers.”
Likewise, the Xuzhou frigate “carried out tactical operations” in waters east of Taiwan, the chain reported, which showed images of Chinese maritime and air forces in action.
The well-known journalist Hu Xijin explained last night in the local newspaper Global Times that the maneuvers are “an explosion in the hearts and guts of Taiwan separatists“, while accusing the United States of “increasing arms sales and military aid” to the self-ruled island.
The Taiwanese Defense Ministry, for its part, detected around the island 58 military aircraft, in addition to nine warships, on the second day of Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. In the first, meanwhile, they had reported the presence of 71 aircraft and nine ships.
Fighter jets and bombers were among the aircraft registered as of noon (0400 GMT), said the ministry, which said it monitored the movements of the Chinese military through “a joint surveillance and information system.”
This Saturday, China kicked off three days of military exercises around Taiwanwhich include the test of “a total siege” of the island, in response to the meeting held by the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, with the head of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
Shortly after that meeting, Beijing assured that it would adopt “firm and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The situation is reminiscent of what happened in August 2022, when the visit to Taiwan of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, enraged China, which responded with military maneuvers around the island to a trip that it described as a “sham ” and “deplorable treason”.
Beijing has considered Taiwan a rogue province since Kuomintang nationalists withdrew there in 1949 after losing the civil war to the communist army.
the island is one of the biggest causes of conflict between China and the United Statesbecause Washington is Taiwan’s main arms supplier and would be its greatest military ally in the event of a war with the Asian giant.
With information from agencies.
ES