The military exercises around Taiwan were to last three days. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said it detected, on Tuesday April 11 around 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. in Paris), nine Chinese warships and twenty-six aircraft around the island. China “crossed the median line from the north, center and south”reported the Ministry of Defense, a day after Beijing announced the end of its major military maneuvers.
Beijing had launched military exercises, dubbed “Joint Sword”, around Taiwan on Saturday, during which simulated targeted strikes and an exercise to encircle the autonomous island took place.
China regards Taiwan as a province that it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It aims for this reunification, by force if necessary.
“Excuse to launch military exercises”
This show of force came after the meeting Wednesday in California between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, to which Beijing had promised to react.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it detected 12 warships and 91 aircraft on the last day of the operation on Monday, and the crossing of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) by 54 of these aircraft.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen condemned the military maneuvers on Monday, hours after their official completion, saying China was using relations between Taipei and Washington as a “Excuse to launch military exercises, creating instability in Taiwan and the region”.
“Although China’s military exercise has ended, our military and national security team will continue to stand by and defend the country.”explained M.me Tsai in a post on Facebook.
At the end of Joint Sword, the Chinese army declared that it had “successfully completed” his military maneuvers.
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An American destroyer, meanwhile, carried out a “freedom of navigation operation” in an area of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. A “intrusion” immediately denounced by China.