Taiwan says military drills show China is preparing to invade
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/09/china-military-taiwan-invasion/
By Lily Kuo
Taiwan’s foreign minister accused China on Tuesday of using U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taipei as a pretext for launching large-scale military drills in preparation for an eventual invasion.
Speaking to reporters, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu called Beijing’s military exercises in response to Pelosi’s trip a “serious provocation” and an attempt to overturn the status quo in the sensitive Taiwan Strait.“China has used the drills in its military playbook to prepare for invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said, citing Beijing’s exercises, missile launches, cyberattacks and trade sanctions as “an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.”“China has threatened Taiwan militarily for years, and it continues to upgrade its efforts. This is a fact,” he said.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have been soaring in recent days, raising fears of a possible conflict that could involve China, the United States and Taiwan, as well as Washington’s allies in the region.The Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said Tuesday that sea and air drills near Taiwan were continuing, marking at least the sixth consecutive day of exercises intended to menace the island. It said the maneuvers would focus on simulating blockades and joint logistics coordination. Taiwan began previously scheduled exercises on Tuesday.
Beijing claims that Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that has enjoyed de facto independence for decades, is an inseparable part of its territory that must be unified with China. In retaliation for Taiwan’s hosting Pelosi last week, the PLA announced military exercises targeting Taiwan from all directions.AdvertisementThe PLA subsequently fired missiles around Taiwan and sent dozens of military aircraft and warships near the island. It has deployed warships and jets across the midpoint of the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial median line that both sides had largely respected for years.
Military analysts in China, which in 2020 denied the existence of the median line and began crossing it more frequently, say such incursions will happen more regularly, with some arguing that the visit could “speed up” unification.While tensions are at their highest since the last Taiwan Strait crisis, in the 1990s, when the PLA fired missiles that landed close to Taiwan, the prospect of military confrontation is still low.
Beijing has signaled some restraint and a desire to avoid direct conflict with the United States. Plans for the drills — scheduled for after Pelosi’s departure — covered areas within the 12-nautical-mile littoral zone that Taiwan claims as its territorial waters. But Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that no Chinese military aircraft had yet encroached on the island’s territory.
A poll released Monday by the Chinese Association for Public Opinion Research, a group in Taiwan, found that more than 60 percent of about 1,000 respondents surveyed between Aug. 3 and 5 were not worried about cross-strait relations leading to military conflict. About 54 percent said they believed Pelosi’s visit had been good for U.S.-Taiwan ties.Asked whether there was real concern in the Taiwanese government that Beijing is preparing for an invasion, Wu said his country was “very concerned.”“But at the same time, we stay calm. We stay resilient. The best way to deal with a regime which is trying to intimidate us is to show that we are not intimidated. We are not scared by China,” he said.
Pei-Lin Wu contributed to this report.