Taiwan: China leads military exercises to simulate a blockade from the island
This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Hibapress / Le Monde
The Chinese army announced on Tuesday April 1ᵉʳ, having mobilized land, naval and air forces around Taiwan, for large -scale military exercises aimed at setting up the conditions of a blockade of the island.
The Chinese armed forces “are getting closer to the island of Taiwan from multiple directions,” said Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the Eastern Command of the Chinese army, describing maneuvers as “legitimate and necessary to safeguard the sovereignty and national unity of China”.
The Chinese Communist Party has never governed Taiwan but claims the archipelago as an integral part of its territory and does not exclude the use of force to take control of it. Beijing has intensified in recent years the deployment of fighter planes and warships around Taiwan in order to support his claim, which Taipei rejects.
These new maneuvers are intended to convey a message of “firm warning and energetic deterrence” to the alleged separatists of the island, the Chinese armed forces said on Tuesday. “These exercises are mainly focused on the Mer-Air combat preparation patrols, the joint acquisition of a global superiority, the assault of maritime and terrestrial targets and the blockade of key areas and sea channels,” detailed Colonel Shi Yi.
Taiwanese forces said they had detected nineteen Chinese warships around the island, including Shandong aircraft carriers in the twenty-four hours preceding 6 am on Tuesday. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement “follow closely the movements of the Shandong aircraft carrier as well as other planes and ships that entered the Taiwan response area yesterday.”
The Democratically elected Taiwanese President, Lai Ching-Te, had described China last month as “hostile foreign force” and proposed new measures to combat Chinese infiltration and espionage.
In the wake of these new operations, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwanese Affairs Office-in charge of Policy of the Chinese Staff to Taiwan-warned on Tuesday in a statement: “Taiwan’s independence means war, and promote Taiwan’s independence means pushing the inhabitants of Taiwan to a perilous armed conflict situation. »»
