In retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China will carry out a series of military operations around the island starting Tuesday night, its military said.
The announced actions mark a clear upgrade in the People’s Liberation Army’s response against the island compared to its previous moves, and such levels of operations are likely to continue in the future, observers believe.
As soon as Pelosi landed in Taipei, the PLA announced that its long-warned “strong military responses” were underway. They included joint naval and air exercises in the north, southwest and southeast of Taiwan’s coastline and airspace. The response also consisted of long-range, live-fire artillery barrages in the Taiwan Straits, as well as test-fires of conventional-warhead missiles in waters east of the island.
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“This action is a serious deterrent against the recent major escalation of the United States’ negative actions on the Taiwan issue and a serious warning to Taiwan’s independence-seeking forces,” said Shi Yi, a spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command. , whose jurisdiction includes the Taiwan Strait and is conducting the exercises.
In addition, the PLA demarcated six no-entry zones around the island for civilian ships and planes, warning that it could conduct “significant live-fire military drills” in those areas from 12 noon Thursday to 12 noon of Sunday.
The no-entry zones are limited to the Taiwan military’s air defense reconnaissance zones and to the north, northeast and southwest, they are close to the 12 nautical mile line of airspace.
China’s Ministry of Defense also said in a statement that the PLA “will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity and resolutely prevent interference by outside forces and secessionist efforts for Taiwan’s independence” with a series of targeted military operations.
The Chinese air force had already scrambled an unknown number of Su-35 fighter jets along the middle line of the strait when Pelosi’s plane approached Songshan Airport in Taipei.
However, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense later said reports of PLA Su-35s crossing the strait were “not true” and that it would send appropriate forces to counter the threat.
“We have the determination, capability and confidence to ensure national security,” she said in a statement.
At least eight US Air Force fighter jets, including F-15s, were reportedly flying from Okinawa, Japan, along with the House Speaker’s plane. As a further precaution, the USS Ronald Reagan and the F-35-capable amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and their escorts were positioned near the eastern waters off Taiwan.
Beijing was expected to go beyond its response in 1996, when then-Taiwanese President Li Tung-hui visited the US, leading to a military crisis, according to Bonnie Glaser, Asia director at the Washington-based German Marshall Fund.
In that crisis, the PLA conducted joint exercises and launched missiles from mainland bases, with some landing near the coast of Taiwan and on offshore islands. Tensions eased only after two US carrier strike groups were sent to the straits and east of the island.
Glazer told reporters that Beijing’s response to Pelosi’s visit would include “military intimidation, perhaps during her visit” and “especially after.”
With more than 20 years of massive defense spending and PLA modernization, China’s military power has grown significantly. In 2011, for example, PLA aircraft for the first time deliberately crossed the median line of the strait and have done so frequently since 2019 with more fighter jets.
Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwan Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, also believed that the PLA’s crossing of the median line was unlikely to be a one-off.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice report on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
