A day after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid a solidarity visit to the self-governing island, China conducted its largest maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, deploying dozens of planes and firing real missiles close to Taiwan.
As part of scheduled drills in six zones that are expected to last until noon on Sunday, China’s military reported that multiple conventional missile firings occurred in the waters off Taiwan. According to state broadcaster CCTV, it activated over 100 aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, as well as over ten vessels.
According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, the country sent out jets to warn off 22 Chinese fighter planes and missiles that had flown into its air defense zone across the Taiwan Strait median line. Late on Thursday, troops fired flares to scare off four drones that were flying over the Kinmen islands, which are off the coast of China’s southeast.
In response to public concern about whether Chinese missiles crossed over Taiwan’s main island, it said that they flew high into the stratosphere and posed no threat to it.
Five missiles seemed to land in Japan’s economic zone, prompting protests.
Chinese defense ministry spokeswoman: “The U.S.-Taiwan collaboration and provocation would only push Taiwan towards the abyss of calamity, bringing catastrophe to Taiwan compatriots.”
President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not instigate confrontations but would resolutely protect its sovereignty and national security in response to the Chinese maneuvers.
Tsai promised the people of Taiwan in a recorded video message that “Taiwan would never be brought down by obstacles.”
We will be solid and not back down because we are composed and not impulsive, reasonable, and not belligerent.
‘Irresponsible Actions’
The White House criticized China’s action as “irresponsible” and stated that it anticipated Beijing will respond more over the next few days.
Beijing’s aggressive moves, according to U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby, are a substantial escalation and part of the country’s ongoing effort to alter the status quo.
The United States has postponed a long-scheduled test of an Air Force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in order to prevent further escalation of tensions, according to Kirby.
‘China Hacked’
For the first time since 1996, Taiwan reported that 11 Chinese Dongfeng ballistic missiles had been fired in adjacent waters.
Officials from Taiwan said that the exercises were illegal, invaded their territory, and jeopardized unrestricted air and sea navigation. Since Mao Zedong’s communists overthrew Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists in a civil war in 1949, forcing the KMT-led government to flee to the island, it has been autonomous.
Following Pelosi’s surprise journey to Taiwan to show her support in violation of Chinese missiles warnings, there was a military operation.
A Taiwanese source briefed on the situation told Media that Chinese military aircraft and ships crossed the Taiwan Strait median line numerous times on Thursday before the drills really started.
By lunchtime, both sides’ warships were still within striking distance, and Taiwan had also scrambled jets and set up missile defenses to track any Chinese aircraft that had crossed the boundary.
“They repeatedly flew in before leaving. They keep bothering us “stated the Taiwanese source.
China claims that its conflicts with the island are an internal matter and that it has the right to annex Taiwan.
‘Conquer by Force’
Despite concerns that Beijing would launch a missile over the main island like North Korea did over Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido in 2017, life in Taiwan was generally normal.
In fact, China has been threatening to conquer Taiwan by missiles force for some time, according to 38-year-old realtor Chen Ming-cheng. My personal understanding is that they are attempting to divert public outrage—the outrage of their own people—and direct it toward Taiwan.
Taiwan claimed that hackers had hacked the websites of its defense, foreign, and presidential offices, and warned of impending “psychological warfare.”
