Beijing’s show of force to the US
Опубликованно 30.08.2020 00:00
The enormous scale of the live-fire operations is intended to intimidate. And it comes as state-controlled Chinese media adopts a belligerent tone, warning “the possibility of peaceful reunification” with Taiwan was “decreasing sharply”.
The escalating military activity is also a message aimed directly at the United States.
The Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times declared on Monday in a piece by Beijing-based naval analyst Li Jie: “The concentrated People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drills could serve as further warnings to Taiwan secessionists and the US and show that the PLA is prepared and capable of effectively safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity in all sea regions.”
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A J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet takes off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning during a maritime training exercise. Picture: ChinaMil/PLA
“The PLA drills are expected to be real combat-oriented, including how the maritime battle would flow, what kind of challenges might occur, and what actions the militaries of the island and the US might take,” added Li Jie.
“Taiwan secessionists and the US should not have any illusion that their provocative actions hitting below the Chinese mainland’s bottom line can succeed.”
Washington has responded to Beijing’s high level of military activity by increasing the presence of its bombers and warships in the region.
EXPANSIVE SCOPE
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has announced four concentrated military drills across three major Chinese sea regions in the coming days, following a recent announcement of consecutive, realistic drills in the Taiwan Straits and at its north and south ends aimed at deterring Taiwan secessionists and the US,” the Global Times states.
All up, there are six overlapping Chinese military exercises currently underway in waters east of Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province, and Lianyungang, East China’s Jiangsu Province. These will shift to the Bohai Sea early next month.
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A Chinese aircraft carrier leads its task group in manoeuvres. Picture: ChinaMil/PLA
“The simultaneous military drills in three major Chinese sea regions mean the island of Taiwan will be hemmed in by PLA exercises from both the north and the south,” the newspaper says.
“The drills are expected to hone in on the PLA troops’ cross-regional joint combat capability. If military conflicts break out, they will not likely be restricted to one sea region, but interconnected,” it quotes “military experts” as saying.
The new exercises will be in the South China Sea, off the southeast coast of Hainan Island and Guangdong Province, next week.
China will hold military exercises from Monday to Saturday in the #SouthChinaSea waters southeast of #Hainan Island, local maritime authority announced in a navigation restriction notice. Separate #PLA drills in the #YellowSea starts today. pic.twitter.com/rBJ31hAYU6— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 22, 2020
“The PLA should not prepare for battle in just the East China Sea and the Taiwan Straits, but in all Chinese sea regions. The goal of these drills should be joint operations. Troops from Northern, Eastern and Southern Theater Commands should be capable of cross-regional joint combat,” military analyst and CCP television authority Song Zhongping is cited as saying.
The PLA’s news service recently reported Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui as saying the spate of drills was “a necessary move responding to the current security situation in the Taiwan Straits and were meant to safeguard national sovereignty”.
Taiwan rejects Beijing’s claim to sovereignty over the island democracy of some 22 million people.
This has Beijing accusing it of being “secessionist”, despite the island never having surrendered to the Communist Party during the 1949 revolution.
SHOW OF STRENGTH
The PLA said the exercises were aimed at “a certain major power” that had been “continuously making negative moves on the Taiwan question”.
It says the Trump administration has “increased its links with the Taiwan secessionist authority” and the military drills were meant to send a warning. They are also a way of training Chinese forces for “massive military operations”.
A J-11 strike fighter shoots a rocket during recent live-fire training. Picture: ChinaMil/PLA
Washington is responding in kind.
A series of long-range bomber sorties have been launched across the Indo-Pacific region.
Two B-2 “Spirit” stealth bombers have deployed to the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. These are exercising with Indian forces worried about Chinese advances on its Himalayan borders.
Meanwhile, four B-1B “Lancer” bombers and four F-15C “Eagle” fighters have been operating in the western Pacific out of Japan.
“Our unique strength as an Air Force is our ability to generate integrated actions with our joint teammates and allies and partners to challenge competitors in a time and place of our choosing,” US Air Force spokesman General Ken Wilsbach said.
The USAF bombers have been combining their operations with those of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea.
This has irked Beijing.
The Global Times notes: “Even after the PLA’s drills in the Taiwan Straits, the US continued to send warplanes and warships to the area, including the USS Mustin destroyer that sailed through the Taiwan Straits on Tuesday and multiple types of reconnaissance aircraft and B-1B bombers that flied (flew) near the island over the past week.”
D4NHD2 US Navy Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan leads a group of multinational ships during RIMPAC exercises in 2010.
OPEN DEFIANCE
On Sunday, the US sent an official envoy to commemorate the death of two of its soldiers during a 1958 Chinese attack on Taiwanese territory.
Brent Christensen laid wreaths at a monument on Quemoy Island in open defiance of Beijing’s protests.
Earlier, Taiwan unveiled a T$42.1 billion (AU$2 billion) increase for next year’s planned defence spending.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian ridiculed the announcement, saying the island is “a tiny region,” and no matter how much money the separatist authority would spend for defence it would be ridiculous, just like “ants trying to shake a big tree”.
In a rare meeting with US health secretary Alex Azar in Taipei, foreign minister Joseph Wu said Taiwan lived under the constant threat of having its freedoms taken away by China.
“Our daily lives have become increasingly difficult as China continues to pressure Taiwan into accepting its political conditions, conditions that will turn Taiwan into the next Hong Kong,” he said.
Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @JamieSeidel
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