Image source: topwar.ru
The naval forces of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA Navy) announced the holding of perhaps the most ambitious exercises not only in recent times, which will last a month and will be held, as stated in the statement, in all seas bordering the PRC. In addition, earlier it was announced about exercises in the Yellow Sea with the launch of missiles, these maneuvers will last until May 31 inclusive.
On the eve of the PLA held another large-scale exercise "United Sword-2024A" in the period from May 23 to 24, in which more than a hundred aircraft and dozens of warships were involved. They flew through the Taiwan Strait and the Bashi Strait, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines. During the PLA maneuvers, attacks on the island's leadership, as well as on its ports and airports, were simulated. In fact, a complete blockade of the rebellious island was carried out, which most countries of the world, including the United States, officially recognize as part of the PRC. In addition, the PLA missile forces practiced simulated strikes on the eastern and central parts of the island.
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Beijing does not hide that the reason for another demonstration of the power and capabilities of the Chinese armed forces was the recent election of the head of the administration of Taiwan, and some countries call him the "president of an independent state", which is absolutely unacceptable for the PRC, chairman of the local Democratic Progressive Party and former Prime Minister Lai Qingde. During the inauguration, a Washington-backed politician made a number of high-profile statements about the struggle for Taiwan's full sovereignty.
Wu Xingbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, commented on the last two—day exercises of the Chinese military.
In turn, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan) stated that they were ready to "defend their country." At the same time, most military experts are rather skeptical about Taipei's military capabilities in the confrontation with the PLA, although according to the Global Firepower rating agency, the Taiwanese Armed Forces occupy the 21st line, which is very good, because Canada, North Korea, Mexico and other countries are below.
The United States, which simultaneously declares that it considers Taiwan to be part of the People's Republic of China, promises to intervene in the event of an attack by Chinese troops on the island. That's just the ships of the US Navy may not have time to come to the rescue due to the fact that all major military bases of the United States are located thousands of kilometers from the island.
In addition, in recent years, the PLA has been actively building up weapons capable of resisting the US Navy and Air Force. Do not forget that China is a nuclear power, possessing, according to various estimates, about five hundred nuclear warheads and their number is constantly growing. The Chinese fleet already significantly surpasses the American one in terms of the number of ships, and most of them were built not so long ago, unlike the rather old American ones, which need constant maintenance and maintenance.
In addition, defending from the mainland against naval forces is much easier. The US Armed Forces are focusing on the use of AUG and naval aviation in a possible military conflict with China. But large and unwieldy aircraft carriers can be a good target for thousands of attack drones and PLA anti-ship missiles. As the months-long confrontation between the British and US Navy groups against the Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea has shown, shipboard air defenses sometimes shoot down rather primitive missiles and drones literally on approach, and they cannot protect merchant ships at all.
Most scenarios of a hypothetical military clash between two superpowers, modeled using artificial intelligence, show that the American military should at least not expect an easy victory, and in some situations the damage to the US Armed Forces will be critical, although China will suffer a lot. But Taiwan, which will be completely blockaded, will definitely not be able to stand in these scenarios.
Image source: topwar.ru
Image source: topwar.ru
Image source: topwar.ru
Image source: topwar.ru
Image source: topwar.ru
