Experts explained why Beijing is conducting exercises in the Taiwan area
The Chinese armed Forces will conduct military exercises in the Taiwan area, the press service of the Eastern Zone of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Combat Command said. "Newspaper.Ru" figured out what the reason for these exercises is and how they can end.
"On April 15, the command of the Eastern Zone of the People's Liberation Army of China sent warships, bombers, fighters and other forces to organize multi-purpose combat patrols and conduct exercises in the sea and airspace in the East China Sea and around the island of Taiwan," the representative of the PLA said.
Earlier, the assistant to the American leader for national security, Jake Sullivan, at a conference organized by the Economic Club of Washington, said that the United States would not allow the reunification of Taiwan with mainland China by force.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a press briefing that Taiwan "will definitely return to the PRC." He also added that the new US strategy in the Indo-Pacific region "poses an open challenge to China."
Prior to that, Taiwan's military conducted exercises all over the island. They simulated an air attack on Taiwan by the PRC.
Missile batteries and military ports were also tested for combat readiness. According to the Taiwan Defense Ministry, the readiness of all troops involved in the exercises turned out to be "normal".
"The steady growth of military tensions around Taiwan has noticeably accelerated against the background of today's events in Ukraine. The visit of US congressmen to the island is a painful issue for Beijing. From the point of view of the protocol, this is a small step towards the recognition of Taiwan. Therefore, the Chinese have made harsh statements and will begin exercises," he told the newspaper.Ru" Director of the Center for Integrated European and International Studies (CCEMI) HSE Vasily Kashin.
According to him, it is impossible to say for sure that the exercises will grow into something more, but such a scenario is possible.
"Whether they will grow into something more is unknown. Maybe. But we do not have a clear understanding of when the Chinese will decide to launch a military operation. It can be assumed that if it is adopted, it will happen in the next three years," Kashin said.
According to military expert Dmitry Litovkin, China's planned exercises off the coast of Taiwan are a demonstration of intentions.
"China considers Taiwan part of its territory and is ready, by and large, to return it by force. China has started flexing its muscles in response to Jake Sullivan's statements. The exercises involve the concentration of forces to conduct maneuvers, respectively, at any moment the exercises can turn from just practicing maneuvers and demonstrating force into the use of this force," Litovkin believes.
As he told the Newspaper.En" Vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, military expert Konstantin Sokolov, according to the context of the information provided about the upcoming exercises in the Taiwan area, "we can say that they have been corrected - they were not originally planned off the coast of Taiwan, but moved to this region."
Sokolov noted that such a reaction from China was obvious and is natural.
"It is clear that all this is not done by chance - by sending its political figures to Taiwan, the United States went all out. They are unwinding an increase in tension in another hot spot. The US wants to turn Taiwan into Ukraine for China. The processes are very similar - both there and there the West pumps up an artificial contradiction between, in fact, fraternal peoples," Sokolov concluded.
Irina Alshayeva
