The Chinese Army will extend during this day the military maneuvers that developed between last Thursday and this Sunday around Taiwan in response to US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.
The People’s Liberation Army (EPL) announced on the Weibo social network -the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, censored in the Asian country- that it continues “conducting joint practical exercises in the air and sea space around the island of Taiwan”.
The maneuvers that Beijing has carried out in recent days, with live fire and the launch of long-range missiles, have been described by the Taiwanese government as “irresponsible”, in addition to raising numerous signs of concern within the international community. .
Tests anti-submarine and air strikes
The exercises this Monday will focus on anti-submarine operations and air strikes with vessels as targets, the statement added.
However, the authorities have not specified the location of these additional maneuvers or whether they maintain the six zones in which they were carried out in recent days, one of them located just 20 kilometers from Kaohsiung, the main city in southern China. the island.
On Sunday, which should have been the last day of maneuvers although Beijing never officially confirmed its end, the exercises focused on “test joint fire capabilities for long-range ground attacks and air attacks,” actions that Taiwan denounced and followed “closely” with its armed forces.
The first four days of maneuvers were extended to the six aforementioned areas around the island, in which air and sea spaces were closed, and included live fire and the launch of long-range missiles, some of which fell into Japanese waters causing an official protest from the Japanese government.
The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense denounced in those days that numerous Chinese military ships and planes had crossed the middle line of the Strait of Formosa, which in practice is an unofficial border but until now tacitly respected by Taipei and Beijing.
Taiwan response
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In reaction to China’s moves and in order to test its “combat readiness”, the self-governed island has announced that it will carry out military exercises tomorrow Tuesday and next Thursday in Pingtung county, and that these will include live artillery fire, according to the official Taiwanese agency CNA.
China, which described Pelosi’s visit as a “farce” and “deplorable betrayal”, claims sovereignty over Taiwan, an island it considers a rebellious province since the Kuomintang nationalists withdrew there in 1949, after losing the civil war against China. the communists.