The People’s Liberation Armyconducted joint combat readiness patrols in the sea and air space around the island of Taiwan“Beijing announced on Sunday.
China says it conducted military exercises on Sunday, December 25 near Taiwan, which it claims, in response to “Provocation» and to the «collusionbetween the United States and the authorities of the island. The number of devices mobilized was not specified, nor the exact location of these maneuvers.
China considers Taiwan, with a population of 24 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. She sees with displeasure the rapprochement at work in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which has provided the island with military support against Beijing for several decades.
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The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)conducted multi-agency joint combat readiness patrols and joint strike drills in the air and sea around the island of Taiwansaid Shi Yi, spokesperson for the Eastern Theater of Operations. “This is a firm response to the growing collusion between the United States and the Taiwanese authorities and their provocations“, he underlined in a press release.
The PLA also released the photos of a bomber, a warship and an aerial landscape showing, from an airplane cockpit, what is said to be a mountain range in Taiwan. This last shot intends to emphasize that the device approached relatively close to the Taiwanese coast.
Steady rise in tension between China and Taiwan
The rapprochement between the United States and Taiwan, begun under former US President Donald Trump, has helped to strain China-US relations. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had expressed Saturday, December 24 its “firm oppositionafter the adoption of a US Defense Act, the “National Defense Authorization Act“, which authorizes in particular 10 billion dollars of military aid and arms sales to Taiwan.
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Last August, the PLA conducted major military exercises around Taiwan, an unprecedented show of force, in retaliation for a visit to the island by Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. Chinese diplomacy viewed the move as a provocation, as the United States officially pledged to recognize the communist government in Beijing as China’s sole legitimate representative.
The Chinese authorities favor a “peaceful reunificationwith the island but have never renounced the use of force to conquer it, especially if it declares its independence.