According to information released by Taiwan‘s defense ministry on Monday, China’s military is practicing ship-launched strikes on Taiwan from the east, as Beijing’s retaliatory military drills entered their third day.
The defense ministry did not provide the locations of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ships detected, but a map of PLA aircraft detections on Saturday showed four J-15 fighter jets east of Taiwan in the western Pacific.
The J-15s have never been seen inside Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), and are believed to have been launched from two PLA aircraft carriers, including the Shandong, which Taiwan and Japan had tracked sailing past Taiwan into waters to its southeast late last week.
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Image source : Foreign policy
China and Taiwan relation over the years
China has claimed Taiwan as its territory since the early twentieth century, complicating relations between the two countries. After World War II, Taiwan was returned to China, but the Nationalist government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists. Since then, Taiwan has operated as a de facto independent state, but China still regards it as a renegade province. The two sides have been involved in a number of conflicts, including military clashes and diplomatic isolation.
In recent years, China has become more assertive in its claims to Taiwan, while Taiwan has sought to strengthen its international presence and security ties with other countries. The relationship remains tense and unresolved, with no clear way forward.
Image source : Foreign policy research
China Conducts Military Drills Simulating “Sealing Off” Taiwan with Aircraft Carrier
For three days, China conducted military drills simulating the “sealing off” of Taiwan, using an aircraft carrier to launch jets towards the island. While Taiwan claimed to have detected jets to its east, China claimed to have participated in the drills with its Shandong aircraft carrier. The exercises began on Saturday, following a meeting in California between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Paul Ryan.
While the drills were not as large as those that followed Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, they sent a clear message from China that Taiwan is a breakaway province that will eventually come under Beijing’s control, by force if necessary. Taiwan regards itself as a sovereign state. China declared the drills a success on Monday
Analysts believe the jets detected to the east of Taiwan were most likely launched from China’s Shandong aircraft carrier, one of the country’s two such carriers. The Chinese military confirmed that the carrier “participated” in the exercises on Monday, with fighter planes loaded with live ammunition carrying out multiple waves of simulated strikes on key targets. The USS Milius, a guided-missile destroyer, was also sent through a section of the South China Sea, about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) south of Taiwan.
China announced the drills after hosting foreign leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Later, Macron urged Europe not to get involved in the Taiwan dispute between the United States and China. According to some analysts, such military exercises will have a diminishing effect over time due to their normalizing effect. China would need to increase the size and scale of such exercises to maintain the same fear factor over time.
