China blockades Taiwan’s ports and key areas in new military maneuver and the country responds with military deployment

Beijing’s Defense Ministry announced that China sent aircraft and ships to surround Taiwan on Monday. Its most recent military exercises were directed at the self-ruled island which it considers part of its territory.

The exercise, called Combined Sword 2024B, “tests the joint operational capabilities of theater command troops,” the Chinese ministry said.

In response, Taiwan said it had sent “appropriate forces” to secure its territory.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry condemned Chinese “irrational and provocative behavior” and said it “sent appropriate forces to respond appropriately to safeguard Taiwan’s independence and democracy and safeguard its sovereignty”.

Captain Li Xi, spokesman for the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command, said the maneuvers are being conducted in “areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan island.”

The exercises focused on topics such as “air and maritime combat readiness surveillance, blockade of ports and key areas” as well as “attacking sea and land targets,” Li said.

US diplomacy chief Antony Blinken on Friday warned China against any “provocation” towards Taiwan, after the island’s President Lai Ching-tey promised to “confront” China in a speech.

Lai, who became president in May, has spoken openly about defending Taiwan’s sovereignty, irking Beijing, which labels him a “separatist.” China has stepped up its military activity around Taiwan in recent years, dispatching warplanes and other military aircraft, while its ships maintain an almost constant presence in the island’s waters.

Beijing has not ruled out using force to take control of the democratically ruled island.

Stern warning

Taiwan said on Sunday it had detected a Chinese aircraft carrier south of the Bashi Channel, which separates the island from the Philippines. It appeared that the ship was headed for the Western Pacific. “All the country’s officers and soldiers are fully prepared to face the enemy’s threats,” the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Monday.

“We are committed and confident in ensuring national security and defence,” he said. In his speech on Thursday, President Lai pledged to “resist interference” of the island and stressed that Beijing and Taipei are “not subservient to each other.”

In response, China warned the same day that Lai’s “provocations” would lead to “disaster” for its people. Beijing signaled on Monday that its maneuvers serve as a stern warning to separatist acts by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces.

The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to a civil war in which Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s communists in 1949.

Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party has defended the sovereignty and democracy of Taiwan, which has its own government, military and currency. China has tried to eliminate Taiwan from the international arena, prevent its participation in global forums, and snatch away diplomatic allies.

This Sunday marks the fifth time China has conducted such maneuvers since 2022, when it conducted the first such maneuver in response to the visit of then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Which angered Beijing and escalated tensions in the strait to levels not seen in decades.

The island is one of the main causes of tension between China and the US, as the North American country is Taiwan’s main arms supplier and could intervene to protect it in the event of a conflict.

AFP Agency