China flexing its muscle: Taiwan on its toes
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry on April 9 reported multiple air force sorties and said it was monitoring China’s missile forces on the second day of drills around the island. China’s “Eastern Theatre Command continues to conduct military exercises around Taiwan”, the Ministry said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s defence ministry said that as of now, they had spotted 70 Chinese aircraft, including Su-30 fighters and H-6 bombers, as well as 11 ships, around Taiwan.
The Ministry said 35 of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the territory’s air defence identification zone.
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.
A source familiar with the security situation in the region told Reuters that China had been conducting simulated air and sea attacks on “foreign military targets” in the waters off Taiwan’s southwestern coast.
The three-day show of force, which began on April 8, comes after a visit by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a 10-day visit to Central America and the United States, where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The three-day operation dubbed “Joint Sword” is intended to rehearse an encirclement of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
The US State Department said on April 9 it was monitoring the situation closely and Beijing should not turn Tsai’s visit “into something it is not or use it as a pretext to overreact”.
Exercises on April 10 will include live-fire drills off the rocky coast of China’s Fujian province, about 80 kms (50 miles) south of the Matsu islands and 190 kms from Taipei.
The local maritime authority said the exercises would be held around Pingtan, a southeastern island that is China’s nearest point to Taiwan.
“These operations serve as a stern warning against the collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and external forces and against their provocative activities,” said Shi Yin, a PLA spokesman, quoted by AFP as saying.
A rundown of Beijing’s arsenal:
Aircraft
China has deployed dozens of planes in the airspace around Taiwan over the three days, including J-16 and J-10C fighter jets. The state-of-the-art J-16s, built by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, are capable of carrying both close- and long-range missiles, according to the state-run Global Times.
According to defence intelligence company Janes, the ongoing operations around Taiwan have also involved KJ-500 early warning and surveillance aircraft, which provide 360-degree radar coverage.
State media have also reported the deployment of Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, which has previously been used in patrols over the East China Sea.
Missiles
People’s Liberation Army land forces have also been roped into what China terms the “Joint Sword” drills, using YJ-12B land-based anti-ship missiles in simulated strikes against Taiwan.
Little information about the YJ-12B is publicly available. It is a land-based version of the YJ-12 missile, which has a range of 460 kms and is able to carry both nuclear and conventional warheads, according to the US-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.
The DF-11 and DF-15 short-range conventional ballistic missiles have also featured in this week’s drills.
Both are decades-old models, with the newer DF-15 capable of “striking Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and Northern India from mainland China,” according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Official broadcaster CCTV said on April 9 that China’s forces “simulated joint precision strikes” on Taiwan.
Warships
China sent destroyers and frigates in Taiwan’s direction over the weekend, with the Taiwanese defence ministry on April 9 saying it had detected nine Chinese warships around the island. These have included the type 052C destroyer and the Type 054A frigate.
According to the defence industry publication Naval Technology, the 054A is designed for anti-air combat and equipped with HQ-16 medium-range surface-air missiles capable of striking aerial targets 50 km away.
And hours before Tsai’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles last Wednesday, China sent its Shandong aircraft carrier through Taiwan’s southeastern waters on its way to the western Pacific.
The Shandong is one of two Chinese aircraft carriers, and the only one to be fully domestically built. It was commissioned into the PLA Navy in December 2019.
Taiwan is a parliamentary democracy whose contested status stems from the outcome of the 1927-1949 Chinese civil war, is governed separately from mainland China but is officially recognised by just a handful of countries.
The US does not officially recognise Taiwan but has expressed Opposition to unilateral attempts to change the status quo and has for decades supported the island’s defences with weapons sales.
China already is on the edge. With continuous yet ambiguous support to Taiwan from several democracies, especially the US, has irked Chinese authorities.
China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its territory despite never having ruled it, and has spent decades trying to isolate it diplomatically. It does not like foreign interference on its alleged territories. It seems that China is in full combat mode.
Previously also, China has reiterated its position vehemently. China reacted in a similar fashion when then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, launching a series of military drills that surrounded the island and firing missiles over it.
Those drills were the first time China had fired missiles over the island, and many experts saw them as representing a major escalation of China’s military intimidation against Taiwan.
It has stated that the ‘independence’ of Taiwan means declaration of war. This is what China is doing. The high-voltage drama at the Taiwan Strait is creating an atmosphere of anxiety and instilling fear in the mind.
Chinese policies as it is known for all wrong reasons. This ‘military exercise’ near Taiwan has not been perceived well by all. This move has given another chance to doubt China’s intentions. The Indo-Pacific already views it as one of the biggest challenges and threats to the peace and stability of the region. Taiwan plays a key role in containing China.
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