To protest Pelosi’s visit, Chinese military performs island attack on last day of 4-day drills near Taiwan

India

oi-PTI

Beijing,
Aug
07:
The
Chinese
military,
on
the
last
day
of
its
largest-ever
military
exercises
to
vent
out
its
anger
over
US
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi’s
visit
to
Taiwan,
carried
out
island
saturation
attack
drills
in
the
Taiwan
Straits,
amid
global
concerns
of
a
full-scale
attack
to
annex
the
breakaway
island
which
Beijing
claims
is
part
of
its
territory.

During
the
four-day
exercises,
several
batches
of
multiple
types
of
warplanes
attached
to
the
Eastern
Theatre
Command
Air
Force
of
the
Chinese
People’s
Liberation
Army
(PLA)
conducted
systematic
island
attack
drills,
with
the
focus
being
honing
the
joint
land
attack
and
long-range
air
strike
capabilities,
the
PLA
Eastern
Theatre
Command
said.

The
PLA
on
Sunday
proceeded
with
the
plan
and
continued
realistic
combat-scenario
joint
exercises
in
the
sea
and
air
space
around
the
island
of
Taiwan
practicing
island
capturing
drills
and
bomber
deterrence
flights
in
Taiwan
Strait,
a
rehearsal
for
real
operation,
state-run
Global
Times
reported.
While
there
is
no
official
announcement
here
on
ending
the
drills,
reports
said
the
PLA
is
reviewing
the
impact
of
the
unprecedented
war
games
involving
all
wings
of
its
military
as
questions
remained
about
its
next
move,
heightening
Beijing’s
dilemma
over
the
future
course
of
action.

In
the
last
four
days,
the
Chinese
military
flew
hundreds
of
planes,
drones
and
fired
missiles
with
different
ranges
which
Taiwan
termed
as
“simulated
attacks”
and
appealed
for
international
help.
China
also
suspended
a
range
of
defence
and
military
exchanges
with
the
US
besides
imposing
sanctions
on
Pelosi
as
part
of
a
slew
of
countermeasures
to
protest
against
her
trip
to
Taipei
on
Tuesday
and
Wednesday
that
infuriated
Beijing,
which
saw
it
as
a
violation
of
the
“one-China”
policy.
China
claims
Taiwan
as
part
of
its
territory
and
has
threatened
to
annex
it
by
force
if
necessary.

The
two
sides
split
in
1949
after
a
civil
war,
but
Beijing
considers
visits
to
Taiwan
by
foreign
officials
as
recognising
its
sovereignty.
Taiwan’s
Ministry
of
National
Defence
emphasised
that
its
military
was
surveilling
the
situation
and
had
dispatched
aircraft
and
ships
to
respond
accordingly.
Taiwan
President
Tsai
Ing-wen
has
called
on
the
international
community
to
“support
democratic
Taiwan”
and
“halt
any
escalation
of
the
regional
security
situation.”
“Our
government
&
military
are
closely
monitoring
China’s
military
exercises
&
information
warfare
operations,
ready
to
respond
as
necessary.
I
call
on
the
international
community
to
support
democratic
Taiwan
&
halt
any
escalation
of
the
regional
security
situation,”
Tsai
tweeted
on
Saturday.

The
Taiwanese
military,
which
has
mobilised
its
forces
to
retaliate
in
case
of
any
offensive
moves
by
the
PLA,
on
Sunday
rejected
reports
that
a
PLA
warship
sailed
near
the
coast
of
its
eastern
county
of
Hualien
during
a
major
war
game
around
the
island,
labelling
it
as
“disinformation”.
In
a
statement,
it
said
Chinese
official
media
reports
of
a
PLA
warship
“entering
our
territorial
waters
close
to
Hualien…are
disinformation
and
the
public
should
not
be
deceived
by
it
and
our
forces
have
been
faithfully
carrying
out
their
duties
to
safeguard
the
security
of
the
country”.

The
statement
came
after
state
news
agency
Xinhua
on
Saturday
released
a
photo
showing
a
PLA
marine
monitoring
a
Taiwanese
frigate,
along
the
coastline
of
Taiwan.
The
Taiwanese
military
also
tweeted
a
video
of
one
of
its
destroyers,
Magong,
watching
the
movement
of
Chinese
naval
frigate
Maanshan.
“Security
can
be
found
where
we
are
as
our
sailors
patrol
our
territory
night
and
day
and
uphold
our
sovereignty,”
it
said.
The
PLA
said
the
exercises
took
place
in
the
waters
and
airspace
off
the
northern,
southwestern
and
eastern
coasts
of
the
island
in
the
last
four
days.

The
military
has
tested
its
capabilities
for
striking
targets
on
land
and
sea
with
the
support
of
an
integrated
military
system,
it
said.
The
Chinese
navy
has
deployed
warships
in
offence
and
defence
drills
with
ground-to-ship
missile
units
engaging
in
stimulated
assaults
aimed
at
major
maritime
targets
and
naval
aviation
units
engaging
in
combat
training,
it
said.
The
PLA’s
navy
and
air
force
units
also
cooperated
in
reconnaissance
and
assault
exercises,
it
said.
Facing
rare
public
criticism
at
home
for
not
being
able
to
stop
Pelosi’s
visit
to
Taipei
despite
high
voltage
rhetoric,
China
carried
out
the
heaviest
mobilisation
of
its
naval,
air
force
and
missile
forces
to
carry
out
targeted
bombardment
in
the
busy
Taiwan
Strait,
a
lifeline
of
transportation
of
vital
cargo
shipments
since
Thursday,
the
day
after
Pelosi
left
Taiwan.

The
visit
of
Pelosi,
the
top
US
leader
in
25
years
to
visit
Taiwan,
came
at
a
politically
sensitive
time
as
President
Xi
Jinping
who
is
set
to
complete
second
five-year
term
this
year
is
widely
expected
to
continue
in
power,
unlike
his
predecessors
who
retired
after
a
10-year
tenure.
The
third
term
for
Xi,
68,
is
widely
expected
to
be
endorsed
by
the
once-in-a-five-year
Congress
of
the
ruling
Communist
Party
of
China
(CPC),
which
is
expected
to
be
held
in
the
next
few
months.
China
apprehends
that
Pelosi’s
visit
will
open
floodgates
for
similar
visits
by
world
leaders,
especially
from
Japan
and
the
European
Union
(EU),
undermining
the
credibility
of
its
claims
over
the
island
whose
majority
population
preferred
to
remain
independent.

Chinese
experts
said
tensions
triggered
by
Pelosi’s
Taiwan
visit
will
continue
to
mount,
but
military
conflict
over
the
issue
is
unlikely.
Shi
Yinhong,
international
relations
professor
at
the
Renmin
University
of
China,
said
strain
in
international
relations
is
a
natural
result
of
strategic
interactions
but
the
US
and
China
are
not
close
to
engaging
in
combat.
“Confrontation
will
[escalate]
but
a
conflict
is
still
unlikely,
even
as
the
suspension
of
military
communication
has
surely
made
prevention
of
incidental
clashes
more
difficult,”
Shi
told
the
Hong
Kong-based
South
China
Morning
Post
on
Sunday.

On
Thursday,
after
the
Chinese
military
began
four
days
of
intensive
live-fire
drills
around
Taiwan,
the
Pentagon
said
its
Japan-based
aircraft
carrier
USS
Ronald
Reagan
would
be
extending
its
scheduled
deployment
in
the
Western
Pacific.
“We
will
conduct
standard
air
and
maritime
transits
through
the
Taiwan
Strait
in
the
next
few
weeks,
consistent,
again,
with
our
long-standing
approach
to
defending
the
freedom
of
the
seas
and
international
law,”
national
security
spokesman
John
Kirby
said.
“And,
we
will
take
further
steps
to
demonstrate
our
commitment
to
the
security
of
our
allies
in
the
region,
”
Kirby
said,
the
Post
reported.
Chinese
Foreign
Minister
Wang
Yi
warned
Washington
on
Saturday
not
to
“stir
up
a
bigger
crisis”,
after
the
US
announced
it
would
take
“further
steps”
by
sending
aircraft
and
warships
to
the
waters
near
Taiwan
in
the
coming
weeks.
The
PLA
has
also
announced
month-long
drills
in
the
Yellow
Sea
facing
South
Korea,
where
the
US
troops
are
stationed.