(Beijing) Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it detected a Chinese warship and 29 more fighter jets around the island on Saturday, the first day of Beijing’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
The Chinese Communist Party “deliberately created tension in the Taiwan Strait […] which has a negative impact on the security and economic development of the international community,” the ministry said, noting that the number of warships detected around the island as of 4 p.m. local time (4 a.m. ET East) now amounted to nine, and that of fighter planes to 71.
China is carrying out a “total encirclement” exercise of the island during military maneuvers which will last until Monday, in retaliation for a meeting between the Taiwanese president and a senior American official.
“Today’s exercise focuses on the ability to take control of the sea, airspace and information […] in order to create deterrence and total encirclement” of Taiwan, Chinese state television said on Saturday after the army announced these operations.
Warships, fast missile launchers, fighter planes, tankers and jammers are notably mobilized.
PHOTO ANN WANG, REUTERS
A Chi Yang-class frigate at Suao Naval Base in Yilan, Taiwan on April 8.
The maneuvers “serve as serious warnings against collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and outside forces, as well as their provocative activities”, Chinese military spokesman Shi Yi warned earlier. .
The exact location of these drills is currently unknown. The narrowest part between the Chinese coast and the island is about 130 kilometers wide.
These operations, which also include “patrols”, are “necessary to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China”, justified this spokesperson.
” Score points ”
Live-fire exercises will be held Monday in the Taiwan Strait near the coast of Fujian (East), the province facing the island, local maritime authorities also said.
These exercises, which have an “operational” dimension, are intended to demonstrate that the Chinese army will be ready “if the provocations intensify” to “settle once and for all the question of Taiwan”, indicates to AFP the military expert Song Zhongping.
These maneuvers follow the meeting Wednesday during a stopover in California between the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, and the Speaker of the American House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
PHOTO FREDERIC J. BROWN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy gave a press conference when they met in Simi Valley, California on April 5.
Beijing had promised “firm and forceful measures” in retaliation.
China views with displeasure the rapprochement in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States which, despite the absence of official relations, provides the island with substantial military support.
For the Chinese power, these military exercises are “a necessity” after an affront to “score points politically” with the population, tells AFP James Char, Chinese army expert from Nanyang University of Technology. in Singapore.
However, an escalation of the same intensity as that of last summer seems a priori ruled out, according to Mr. Char who underlines that Beijing, which is trying to “warm up” its relations with Europe, has waited for the “end” of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to launch his exercises.
“Authoritarian expansionism”
In August, China launched unprecedented military maneuvers around Taiwan and fired missiles, when Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who preceded Mr McCarthy to the House roost, visited the island.
China considers Taiwan (23 million inhabitants) as one of its provinces which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
The United States recognized the People’s Republic of China in 1979 and should in theory have no official contact with the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the “one China principle” championed by Beijing.
Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday denounced China’s “authoritarian expansionism” and assured that Taiwan would “continue to work with the United States and other countries […] to defend the values of freedom and democracy”.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense for its part indicated that it was “monitoring the situation” and had instructed the army to “respond” to Chinese military activities.
In Pingtan, the closest point to Taiwan in southeast China, tourists watched the choppy waters of the sea but no notable military activity was visible.
Others casually posed in front of a giant stamp representing the Chinese coasts and Taiwan, an emblematic monument of Pingtan.