The People’s Republic of China has announced a successful completion of assignments around Taiwan (Republic of China), but added that regular patrols will continue.
Eastern Theatre Command spokesperson Colonel Shí Yi said that Chinese forces “successfully completed various tasks” during the naval and air force training missions around Taiwan.
“Theater troops will pay close attention to changes in the situation in the Taiwan Strait, continue to train and prepare, organize regular combat readiness patrols in the Taiwan Strait and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Shi said.
The largest show of force in the region since the mid-1990s began shortly after U.S House Speaker Nancy Pelosi departed Taipei late on August 3, following a historic but yet controversial trip to the self governing Island with other Democratic lawmakers.
The Military maneuvers by the China’s People’s Liberation Army included simulation of a “blockade” of the island, as well as amphibious assaults and the striking of ground targets, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry.
The announcement of the completion of the exercise comes shortly after Beijing released a White Paper refusing to rule out the use of force in its efforts to unify Taiwan with the mainland, noting, however, that it will strive for a peaceful unification.
“We will work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification. But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures,” the document read.
Beijing noted that this contingency was needed to prevent “external interference and separatist activities” and accused “anti-Chinese forces in the US” of deliberately escalating tensions between China and Taiwan.
Responding to the Chinese military’s statement, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said: “While PLA Eastern Theater announced that they have finished their joint military operation and will conduct routine patrol, ROC Armed Forces will adjust how we deploy our forces considering multiple factors including troop morale and threats, without letting our guard down.”
Taiwan launched planned anti-invasion drills as scheduled this week.
In the week prior to Wednesday, publicly available statistics from Taiwan’s Defense Ministry showed Beijing’s warplanes had flown nearly 300 sorties around the island, including 125 sorties across the Taiwan Strait median line. Throughout the drills, between 10 and 14 Chinese naval vessels were present around Taiwan at all times, the figures showed.
In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation over the weekend, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s representative in Washington, said the exercises were unprecedented: “From the scope and the actions, it appears that they have been preparing for this for some time, way before Speaker Pelosi decided to visit Taiwan.”
At a press conference in Taipei a day earlier, Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, blasted China’s decision to begin ignoring the median line, which acted as an unofficial buffer to keep tensions in check throughout the Cold War.
“China has openly declared its ownership over the Taiwan Strait,” said Wu. “On this occasion, China has also taken specific actions to break the long-standing tacit agreement on the median line of the Taiwan Strait. And after the drills conclude, China may try to routinize its action in an attempt to wreck the long-term status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”
China considers Taiwan an inalienable part of its territory and views visits such as Pelosi’s as an attack on its sovereignty and a violation of the ‘One China’ principle, under which most countries refrain from diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.
Pelosi herself, meanwhile, defended her controversial visit on Tuesday, telling NBC’s Today show: “The people of Taiwan welcomed the visit. The Chinese government may not have, but China will not be allowed to isolate Taiwan.”
“Just because…the president of China acts like a bully [and] has his own insecurities, it doesn’t mean I’m going to have him do the schedule for members of Congress,” she said.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
