(Beijing) Despite calls from Westerners and Japan, China announced on Monday the continuation of military exercises near Taiwan, again to respond to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island claimed by Beijing.
Posted at 6:31 a.m.
The day after the departure from Taipei of Mme Pelosi, number three American and president of the House of Representatives, the Chinese army had launched Thursday vast maneuvers “in real fire” in six large areas all around Taiwan.
These exercises, at least in this configuration, were to end on Sunday noon according to the Chinese maritime security administration. They were intended to practice a “blockade” of the island, according to official Chinese media.
But maneuvers continue.
“The People’s Liberation Army […] continues to conduct practical joint exercises in the sea and air space around Taiwan, focusing on joint anti-submarine and assault operations at sea,” the Eastern Command said in a statement Monday. Chinese army.
He did not specify in which areas these maneuvers take place, or whether they are “live fire” or not.
The Chinese army has conducted in recent days around Taiwan the largest military exercises in its history in this area, sending fighter jets, warships, drones and firing ballistic missiles.
Because of their scale, they have drawn criticism from the heads of diplomacy of the G7 (United States, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, United Kingdom), who considered that there was “no justification to these “aggressive” maneuvers.
“Troublemakers”
After China suspended a series of Sino-American talks and cooperation, including on climate change, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Chinese response “totally disproportionate”.
Along with his Japanese and Australian counterparts, Mr. Blinken also issued a statement calling on China to stop its military exercises.
Questioned on Monday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not formally confirm the holding of new exercises but stressed that Beijing’s reaction was “legitimate, rational and legal”.
PHOTO TINGSHU WANG, REUTERS
The military exercises ended up on the front page of a Beijing daily.
“This is a warning to troublemakers as well as a lesson to supporters of Taiwanese independence,” he said during a regular press briefing, defending military maneuvers that were “transparent and professionals”.
“We call on the United States to do some soul-searching and rectify its mistake as soon as possible. […] as well as to stop playing the Taiwan card in order to hinder [le développement de] China. »
For its part, the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned in a press release a continuation of the maneuvers which “undermines the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and raises tensions in the region”.
Taiwan’s armed forces announced on Monday that they will hold live ammunition military drills this week simulating a defense of the island against a Chinese invasion.
They will train to face landings on Tuesday and Thursday in the Pingtung region, in the far south. Several hundred soldiers and about 40 howitzers will be deployed for these exercises, according to the same source.
According to the army, these exercises were already scheduled and are not a response to the Chinese exercises.
missiles
Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang said on Sunday that “China’s brutal use of military force is undermining regional peace and stability”.
According to Chinese state television CCTV, ballistic missiles flew over Taiwan this week, which would be a first.
To prove how close it had come to Taiwan’s shores, the Chinese military released a photo it said it took from one of its warships over the weekend, showing a navy building Taiwanese just a few hundred meters away.
China considers Taiwan, with a population of around 23 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War ( 1949).
Opposed to any initiative giving the Taiwanese authorities international legitimacy, Beijing is against any official contact between Taiwan and other countries.
American officials visit this island frequently, but China judges that the visit of Mme Pelosi, one of the highest figures in the American state, was a major provocation.