BEIJING —
China carried out fresh military
drills around Taiwan Monday, Beijing said, defying calls to end its
largest-ever exercises encircling the island in the wake of a visit by US House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
اضافة اعلان
Beijing has raged at the trip by
Pelosi — the
highest-ranking elected US official to visit Taiwan in decades — ripping up a
series of talks and cooperation agreements with Washington, most notably on
climate change and defense.
It has also deployed fighter jets, warships, and
ballistic missiles in what analysts have described as practice for a blockade
and ultimate invasion of the self-ruled democratic island that China claims as
its territory.
Those drills had been expected to draw to a close on
Sunday, but China said Monday they were still ongoing.
“The eastern theatre of the Chinese People’s
Liberation Army (PLA) continued to carry out practical joint exercises and
training in the sea and airspace around Taiwan island,” the military said.
The exercises, the PLA’s
Eastern Command added, were
“focusing on organizing joint anti-submarine and sea assault operations”.
Taipei condemned Beijing for extending the drills.
“China’s provocation and aggression have harmed the
status quo of the Taiwan Strait and raised tensions in the region,” the
island’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Taiwanese military said it detected 39 Chinese
warplanes and 13 ships operating in the strait on Monday, with 21 of the
aircraft crossing the median line — an unofficial demarcation between China and
Taiwan that the former does not recognize.
Taipei defiant
Taiwan has remained defiant
throughout the Chinese drills.
Its military said it would hold anti-landing
exercises in Taiwan’s south on Tuesday and Thursday.
“We will practice counter moves against simulated
enemy attacks on Taiwan,” Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for the Eighth Army Corps,
told AFP.
They will include the deployment of hundreds of
troops and about 40 howitzer guns, the military said.
Taiwan has insisted
that no Chinese warplanes or ships have entered Taiwan’s territorial waters —
within 12 nautical miles of land — during Beijing’s drills.
But to show how close it came to Taiwan’s shores,
the Chinese military released a video of an air force pilot filming the
island’s coastline and mountains from his cockpit.
The Eastern Command also shared a photo it said was
of a warship on patrol with Taiwan’s shoreline visible in the background.
Ballistic missiles were fired over Taiwan’s capital
during the exercises last week, according to Chinese state media.
The scale and intensity of China’s drills — as well
as its withdrawal from key talks on climate and defense — have triggered
outrage in the United States and other democracies.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said
Washington is “determined to act responsibly” to avoid a major global crisis.
‘Issuing a warning’
But Beijing on Monday defended its behavior as “firm, forceful, and
appropriate” to American provocation.
“(We) are only issuing a warning to the
perpetrators,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing,
promising China would “firmly smash the Taiwan authorities’ illusion of gaining
independence through the US”.
“We urge the US to do some earnest reflection, and
immediately correct its mistakes.”
Experts say the drills have revealed an increasingly
emboldened Chinese military capable of carrying out a grueling blockade of the
island and obstructing US forces from coming to Taiwan’s aid.
“In some areas, the PLA might even surpass US
capabilities,” Grant Newsham, a researcher at the Japan Forum for Strategic
Studies and a former
US Navy officer, told AFP.
“If the battle is confined to the area right around
Taiwan, today’s Chinese navy is a dangerous opponent — and if the Americans and
Japanese do not intervene for some reason, things would be difficult for
Taiwan.”
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
