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 By Poornima Weerasekara, with Amber Wang in Taipei Beijing (AFP) Aug 8, 2022
China carried out fresh military drills around Taiwan Monday, Beijing said, defying calls for it to end its largest-ever exercises encircling the democratic island in the wake of a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 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 defence. 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 island that China claims as its territory. Those drills had been expected to draw to a close on Sunday, but neither Beijing nor Taipei confirmed their conclusion, though Taiwan's transport ministry said it had seen some evidence suggesting at least a partial drawdown. China then said Monday they were ongoing, reporting "the eastern theatre of the Chinese People's Liberation Army continued to carry out practical joint exercises and training in the sea and airspace around Taiwan island". The exercises, the Chinese military's Eastern Command said, were "focusing on organising joint anti-submarine and sea assault operations". Beijing is also set to carry out live-fire drills on Monday in parts of the South China Sea and Yellow Sea. - Taipei defiant - Taiwan has remained defiant throughout days of drills by Beijing and will hold anti-landing exercises in its southernmost county of Pingtung on Tuesday and Thursday, Taipei's army said. "We will practise 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. Taipei on Monday condemned Beijing's exercises but insisted that no Chinese planes or ships had entered Taiwan's territorial waters. To show how close it has come 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 Beijing's withdrawal from key talks on climate and defence -- 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 behaviour 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 gruelling 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."
Taiwan to hold anti-invasion drills after China exercises The self-ruled, democratic island lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which sees it as part of Chinese territory to be reclaimed one day, by force if necessary. The island's forces will hold anti-landing exercises in the southernmost county of Pingtung on Tuesday and Thursday, the Taiwanese army said. "We will practise 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 army said. Defying calls for it to end days of military exercises encircling the island, Beijing continued joint air and sea drills on Monday after a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei last week. Lou said the Taiwanese drills were already scheduled and were not being held in response to China's exercises. The island routinely stages military drills simulating a Chinese invasion and last month practised repelling attacks from the sea in a "joint interception operation" as part of its largest annual exercises. The latest war games come after China was accused of simulating a blockade and invasion of Taiwan in its drills in recent days. Those drills had been expected to draw to a close on Sunday, but China on Monday said they were ongoing. 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 defence.
Taiwan crisis: what we've learned so far Beijing (AFP) Aug 7, 2022 China's live-fire drills around Taiwan - which saw vessels encircle the democratically ruled island - have offered an unprecedented insight into how Beijing may conduct a military campaign against its neighbour. Beijing has also imposed economic sanctions and increased efforts to isolate Taiwan on the international stage, in a move that experts say will permanently alter the status quo on the Taiwan Strait. AFP looks at what we learned from China's largest-ever military exercise around Taiwan, ... read more
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