Simulated Attack
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Chinese forces simulate military strikes on key Taiwanese targets on day two of its blockade drills region tense
Beijing has simulated precision strikes on Taiwan during a combined military exercise around the island, Chinese state media reported on Sunday. The maneuvers, involving an aircraft carrier, were launched in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the US.
The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said nine naval vessels and 71 warplanes had been detected near the island as of Sunday morning. It added that 45 aircraft, including fighter jets, surveillance planes, and drones, crossed into the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Taiwan’s own patrol planes, as well as Navy ships and land-based missile systems, were activated to “respond [to] these activities,” the ministry said.
Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, said on Saturday that ships and planes were “encircling” Taiwan as part of the exercise. Shi described the drills as a warning “against the collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and external forces and against their provocative activities.”
Chinese state television reported that the combat readiness patrols and drills around Taiwan were continuing.
“Under the unified command of the theatre joint operations command centre, multiple types of units carried out simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan island and the surrounding sea areas, and continue to maintain an offensive posture around the island,” it said.
The Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command put out a short animation of the simulated attacks on its WeChat account, showing missiles fired from land, sea and air into Taiwan with two of them exploding in flames as they hit their targets.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said that as of 0800 GMT on Sunday they had spotted 70 Chinese aircraft, including Su-30 fighters and H-6 bombers, as well as 11 ships, around Taiwan.
The ministry said they were paying particular attention to the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force which is in charge of China’s land-based missile system.
“Regarding the movements of the Chinese communists’ Rocket Force, the nation’s military also has a close grasp through the joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system, and air defence forces remain on high alert,” the ministry said.
It reiterated that Taiwan’s forces will “not escalate conflicts nor cause disputes” and would respond “appropriately” to China’s drills.
The security source said about 20 military ships, half from Taiwan and half from China, were engaged in a stand-off near the Taiwan Strait’s median line, which has for years served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, but did not behave provocatively.
China’s aircraft carrier Shandong, which Taiwan has been monitoring since last week, is now more than 400 nautical miles off Taiwan’s southeast coast and is carrying out drills, the source said.
The three-day wargames named ‘United Sharp Sword’ were launched on Saturday following Tsai’s return from the US. Beijing views Taiwan, which has been ruled by a separate government since the late 1940s, as its sovereign territory, and opposes any forms of diplomatic recognition of the Taipei authorities. On Friday, Beijing blacklisted two Taiwan-based groups it accused of promoting the island’s independence.
Source RT/Reuters
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