China sends dozens of jets and eight warships towards Taiwan as they encircle island

Chinese fighter jets and warships simulated attacks on Taiwan Sunday as they surrounded the island in a second consecutive day of military exercises launched in response to the president’s meeting with the speaker of the US House.

The exercises drew condemnation from Taipei and calls for restraint from Washington, which said it was “closely monitoring Beijing’s actions”.

The three-day operation, dubbed “Joint Sword,” which involves practicing an encirclement of Taiwan, will last until Monday, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command said.

‘I’m a bit worried; I’d be lying to you if I said I’m not,” said 73-year-old Donald Ho, who was exercising Sunday morning in a park in Taipei, in the far north of the self-governed island.

“I am still worried because if a war breaks out, both sides will suffer very much,” he told AFP.

Taiwan Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jets approaching for landing at Taiwan Air Force Base in Hsinchu

China’s war games saw aircraft, ships and personnel sent to “the maritime areas and airspace of the Taiwan Strait, off the north and south coasts of the island, and to the east of the island,” the military said as it launched the exercises. to flex Beijing’s military muscles for Taiwan and the world.

A report from state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday said the exercises had simulated “joint precision strikes against key targets on the island of Taiwan and surrounding waters,” adding that troops “continued to maintain the situation of closely encircling the island.”

The article went on to say that the Air Force had deployed dozens of aircraft to “fly into the targeted airspace” and that the ground forces had conducted exercises for “multi-target precision strikes.”

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen immediately denounced the exercises, which came after meeting US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

She pledged to cooperate with “the US and other like-minded countries” despite the “ongoing authoritarian expansionism.”

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said the United States had “consistently pushed for restraint and no change of the status quo,” but noted that it had sufficient resources to meet its security obligations in Asia.

The United States has been deliberately ambiguous about whether it would defend Taiwan militarily, even though it has sold weapons to Taipei for decades to ensure its self-defense.

Monday’s exercises include live fire exercises off the rocky coast of China’s Fujian province, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Taiwan’s Matsu Islands and 186 kilometers from Taipei.

“These operations serve as a stern warning against the collusion between separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence” and outside forces and against their provocative activities,” said Shi Yin, a PLA spokesman.

Ground Force military vehicles under the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) participate in a combat readiness patrol and ‘Joint Sword’ exercises around Taiwan

A Taiwan Air Force F-16 aircraft flies over Hualien, Taiwan on April 9, 2023

“The operations are necessary to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

AFP saw no immediate signs of intensified military maneuvers on the north coast of Pingtan, a Chinese island across the Taiwan Strait, where live ammunition exercises are set to begin Monday.

A few tourists wandered the golden sands on a Sunday morning, while fishing boats bobbed on the wharf beyond.

China considers democratic, self-governing Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Sunday it had detected nine Chinese warships and 58 aircraft around the island. On Saturday, the same number of ships were followed, along with more than 70 aircraft.

The ministry said it was tracking Chinese military “movements through (a) joint intelligence and reconnaissance system,” adding that the fighters detected up to 12:00 am local time (04:00 GMT) included a mix of fighter jets and bombers.

According to data collected by AFP, the number of aircraft entering Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday was the highest in a single day this year.

“The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has continued to conduct military exercises around the Taiwan Strait and has successively sent multiple batches of aircraft… as well as a number of ships into the area since this morning,” the defense ministry said on Sunday.

“The military has been closely monitoring the situation for relevant developments and has directed aircraft, ships and surface-to-surface missile systems to respond accordingly,” it added.

The exercises came hours after the departure from Beijing of French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in China to urge his counterpart Xi Jinping to end the war in Ukraine.

Last August, China deployed warships, missiles and fighter jets around Taiwan in its biggest show of force in years following a trip to the island by McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi.

Tsai returned to Taiwan on Friday after visiting her island’s dwindling band of official diplomatic allies in Latin America, with two US stops, including meetings with McCarthy and other lawmakers.