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China’s muscle-flexing continues: Taiwan’s military reacts to the discovery of dozens of fighter jets with heightened alert. Urgent warnings are coming from the USA.
Also on Friday the large-scale Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan As the Ministry of Defense in Taipei announced this morning, 49 fighter planes, 19 warships and seven Chinese coast guard ships were sighted near the island. 35 of the planes crossed the median line, the unofficial border between the communist People’s Republic and the democratically governed TaiwanThe Taiwanese armed forces “have been monitoring the situation” and fighter jets, warships and missile systems installed on the coast have been deployed.
China has been planning to take over Taiwan for years
For years, China has been sending fighter jets and warships to the region almost daily to intimidate the island republic’s inhabitants. However, as many as on Friday have not been reported this year. However, the number is significantly lower than the 103 Chinese fighter planes that were spotted near Taiwan last September.
The People’s Republic of China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and wants to annex the island to the mainland by military force if peaceful unification fails. According to surveys, an overwhelming majority of Taiwanese want to maintain the status quo, only a minority supports joining China.
China-Taiwan conflict: risk of escalation low
China’s military maneuvers began on Thursday in response to the swearing-in of Beijing-critical President Lai Ching-te. A Chinese military spokesman said on Friday that the two-day exercises would test the “ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and control key areas.”
However, according to experts, the risk of further escalation is low, as the exercises were expected and are also significantly shorter and smaller than the Chinese maneuvers on the occasion of the Taiwan visit of then Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in the summer of 2022. At that time, the encirclement of Taiwan was practiced, among other things.
In addition, China’s People’s Liberation Army would not yet be able to take over the island. Moreover, preparations for a large-scale invasion would probably be discovered by foreign intelligence services months in advance. According to analysts, China would, for example, gather troops, build makeshift hospitals near the coast and call on the population to donate blood. However, there are currently no signs of this.
China views Taiwan’s new president as a “dangerous separatist”
Beijing considers the new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te to be a “dangerous separatist” and accuses him of wanting to officially declare Taiwan independent from China. “The independence forces will end up with smashed skulls and blood,” raged Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Thursday. However, Lai has made it clear several times that he does not want to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. His government will “neither give in nor provoke and will maintain the status quo,” Lai said on Monday at his inauguration.
The United States has called on the Chinese government to exercise restraint in the conflict. “We urge Beijing to exercise restraint,” said a senior official in the administration of US President Joe Biden on Thursday. The Chinese government’s behavior was “reckless” and undermined norms “that have maintained peace and stability in the region for decades.” The United States does not have diplomatic relations with the government in Taiwan, but supports the government there with weapons for defense. (ss)
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