China said on Monday it had deployed warplanes carrying “live ammunition” and the aircraft carrier Shandong to carry out “feint attacks” on targets in Taiwan after encircling the territory with dozens of aircraft and warships.
“Multiple groups of H-6K fighters conducted several mock attacks on key targets on the island of Taiwan with live ammunition”the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command reported, specifying that Shandong also “participated in the exercises”.
The Chinese military sent dozens of fighter jets and 11 warships near Taiwan following the meeting between the island’s leader Tsai Ing-wen and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Kevin McCarthy, reported this morning the Ministry of Defense of Taiwan.
China’s military previously announced “combat readiness patrols” for a period of three days in a warning to Taiwan. The decision to send planes and warships close to the area came after the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy in California.
This weekend, Tsai met with a US congressional delegation after returning to Taipei.
China responded to the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy with increased military activity and travel bans and sanctions against entities and people involved in Tsai’s US trip.
Between Sunday and Monday, 70 aircraft crossed the centerline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial border once tacitly respected by both sides, according to a statement from Taiwan’s defense ministry. Among the aircraft that crossed the skies were eight J-16 fighters, four J-1 fighters, eight Su-30 fighters and reconnaissance aircraft.
This came after eight warships and 71 Chinese aircraft were discovered near Taiwan between Friday and Saturday, the island’s defense ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that it was handling the situation from a perspective of “not escalating conflicts and not causing disputes”.
Taiwan said it tracked Chinese movements via land-based missile systems and naval vessels.
In addition to battle-ready patrols, the People’s Liberation Army of China will conduct fire exercises in Luoyuan Bay in eastern China’s Fujian province, opposite Taiwan, the Maritime Authority there announced at the end of the week .
In recent years, Chinese Air Force incursions into Taiwan’s airspace have intensified, and after former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island last August, Beijing launched military exercises on an unprecedented scale, including missile launches and the use of live fire.
Pelosi’s visit was the most high-profile U.S. visit in 25 years.
At the end of World War II, Taiwan became part of the Republic of China under the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek. After the defeat by the Communist Party, in the Chinese Civil War, in 1949, the Nationalist government took refuge on the island, which to this day maintains the official name of the Republic of China, unlike the People’s Republic of China, on the mainland Chinese.
Beijing considers the island part of its territory and threatens violent reunification if Taipei formally declares independence.
Source: DN
