A Chinese military helicopter flies past tourists at a viewpoint over the Taiwan Strait on Pingtan Island, the closest to Taiwan in southeastern Fujian province, China.
Greg Baker | AFP | Getty’s paintings
Forty-two Chinese fighter jets briefly crossed the vulnerable Central Line of the Taiwan Strait on Saturday as China launched exercises around Taiwan in anger over President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
The three-day exercise, announced the day after Tsai returned from the United States, was widely anticipated after China condemned her Wednesday meeting with chairman Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.
China sees democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to take control of the island. The Taiwanese government strongly opposes China’s claims.
Beijing’s announcement also got here just hours after China hosted a visit from senior European leaders.
The People’s Liberation Army said it had began combat readiness patrols and “Common Sword” exercises around Taiwan, having previously assured that it might hold them in the Taiwan Strait and the north, south and east of Taiwan “as planned”.
“This can be a serious warning to the Taiwanese pro-independence separatists and the collusion and provocation of external forces, and a crucial motion to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese military command in the Eastern Theater said.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Saturday morning that it spotted 42 Chinese fighter jets – J-10, J-11 and J-16 crossing the center line, which normally serves as an unofficial batter between the two sides, as well as eight Chinese warships.
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China used Tsai’s visit to the US “as an excuse to conduct military exercises that seriously damaged peace, stability and security in the region,” the Chinese ministry said.
“The military will respond with a peaceful, rational and serious demeanor and can guard and monitor in accordance with the principles of ‘no escalation or dispute’ to defend national sovereignty and national security.”
Situation “as expected”
China has threatened unspecified retaliation if the meeting with McCarthy – second in line to the vp to succeed the US president – were to happen. Beijing staged war games around Taiwan, including missile launches, in August after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.
A senior Taiwanese official accustomed to security planning in the region told Reuters that the planes had only briefly crossed the center line while the ships had already turned back, unlike in August when ships from each navies engaged one another.
The situation was “as expected” and manageable, and the Taiwanese government rehearsed different scenarios for its response, the person said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Reuters reporters in a coastal area near Fuzhou, facing the Taiwanese-controlled Matsu Islands, saw a Chinese warship firing missiles at an exercise area off the Chinese coast, a part of an exercise announced by China late on Friday.
Tsai, who hosted a luncheon Saturday with a delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said she looked forward to increasing security cooperation with the United States.
“I would really like to reiterate that the people of Taiwan love democracy and strive for peace,” she said, without directly mentioning exercise in the comments in front of TV cameras.
Tsai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been turned down because the government sees her as a separatist. He says that only the people of Taiwan can determine their future.
The People’s Every day, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, wrote in a Saturday commentary that the government had “a robust ability to frustrate any type of Taiwanese independence secession.”
“All countermeasures taken by the Chinese government fall inside China’s legitimate and legal right to guard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said.
Diplomacy and exercises
Unlike in August, China has yet to announce whether it is going to also conduct missile exercises. When China announced the previous exercises, it released a map showing which sea areas near Taiwan it might be firing at.
A security source said April is the time when China normally conducts military exercises.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen attends an event with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, April 5, 2023.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty’s paintings
Taiwanese officials expected a less harsh response to McCarthy’s meeting, on condition that it was held in the United States, but said they might not rule out the possibility of China holding more exercises.
China’s announcement got here hours after French President Emmanuel Macron left China for a gathering with President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders. Macron called on Beijing to talk over with Russia about the war in Ukraine.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, who was also in China this week for a gathering with Xi, said stability in the Taiwan Strait was of paramount importance.
Xi responded by saying that expecting China to compromise on Taiwan was “wishful considering”, in response to the official interpretation of the China meeting.
The Chinese defense ministry, along with announcing exercises around Taiwan, showed on its website photos of Xi’s meeting with Macron and von der Leyen.
A Taiwanese security source said China’s recent efforts to charm foreign leaders were in vain after the drills were announced.
“After the announcement of the cross-strait exercises, all these efforts disappeared overnight and have become a wasted effort.”