After three days of extensive combat training surrounding Taipei, President Xi Jinping’s military declared itself “ready to battle” amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan.
In reaction to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-visit wen’s to the US last week, the PLA conducted the audacious military exercise. She spoke with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other prominent American officials during her visit. Tsai also had a meeting with a US congressional delegation over the weekend in Taiwan after she had returned.
Joint Sword’s “combat readiness patrols” were created as a warning to independent Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
The theatre said on Monday that its forces were “always prepared to battle and capable of fighting at any moment to fiercely demolish any sort of Taiwan independence’ and foreign meddling efforts.”
China deploys 91 fighter jets close to Taiwan.
The Taiwanese military earlier today said once again that as many as 91 Chinese military planes and 12 PLAN boats had been seen near Taiwan by 6 am. According to the report, 54 of the identified aircraft had entered Taiwan’s southwest and southeast ADIZ after crossing the Taiwan Strait’s middle line. In addition, it said that there are presently eight boats working in the seas around Taiwan. The movements will continue to be closely monitored, according to ROC.
The drills were comparable to those China carried out in August of last year, when it launched missile attacks on targets in the waters around Taiwan in retribution for then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, although they were smaller and less obtrusive.
The US labels China’s action as “unnecessary.”
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, reaffirmed the administration of President Joe Biden’s view that Tsai’s passage through the US and the congressional visit to Taiwan were not unusual. Between 2016 and 2019, Tsai passed through the country six times. There was no justification for a military response, he said. There is no justification for the tensions across the Taiwan Strait to escalate into a confrontation of any type.
In response to the McCarthy meeting, China quickly imposed travel restrictions, financial penalties, and escalated military activities against anybody connected to Tsai’s US visit.