China launches largest military exercise in 30 years near Taiwan
Kyiv • UNN
China has deployed the largest navy in the last three decades in regional waters off Taiwan. 47 military aircraft, 12 warships and Coast Guard activity were recorded.
China has deployed its largest fleet in regional waters over the past nearly three decades. This poses a more serious threat to Taiwan than Beijing's previous military activities. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
Taiwan Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Lifang said at a news conference on Tuesday that the scale of the current deployment of Chinese naval forces in the area from the southern Japanese islands to the South China Sea is the largest since Beijing conducted military exercises around Taiwan on the eve of the 1996 presidential election.
At the same time, the Chinese military has not yet commented or confirmed that it is conducting any exercises.
Interestingly, the start of such exercises by China was expected and was an occasion to express its dissatisfaction with President Lai Chin te's Pacific tour. It ended on Friday and included stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam.
The Taiwanese military was alerted on Monday, December 9, after reports that China had reserved airspace and deployed Navy and Coast Guard ships.
The current exercises are the largest compared to the previous four. Whether or not they announced the exercises, they pose a big threat to us,
The ministry's senior intelligence officer, Xie Ji Sheng, said there have so far been no live-fire exercises in seven "reserved" areas of Chinese airspace, two of which are located in the Taiwan Strait. However, over the past day, there has been a significant increase in Chinese activity north of Taiwan.
A Reuters source in Taiwan's security agencies noted that the number of ships of the Chinese navy and Coast Guard in the region remains at about 90 and causes "great concern". The source also added that China is targeting other countries in the region, not just Taiwan.
China's deployment in the first island chain, extending from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and further to Borneo (also known as Kalimantan) is the third largest Sea Island in the world, divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. - Ed.), fencing off the coastal seas of China, aims to protect the territory to prevent the intervention of foreign forces, said Xie.
The ministry also noted that the Chinese Navy is building two "walls" in the Pacific Ocean: one at the eastern end of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone, and the other further in the Pacific Ocean.
addition
Taiwan's Defense Ministry has identified 47 military aircraft that have flown around the island in the past 24 hours, as well as 12 naval ships and nine "official" ships, meaning ships allegedly from civilian agencies such as the coast guard.
According to a map provided by the ministry in its daily morning activity report on China, 26 aircraft flew over an area north of Taiwan off the coast of China's Zhejiang province, six over the Taiwan Strait and another 15 southwest of the island.
A senior Taiwanese security source told Reuters that Chinese planes simulated attacks on foreign naval ships and practiced shooting down military and civilian aircraft as part of "blockade exercises.
