IRIA News

Chinese military fired multiple precision missiles toward the northeast and southwestern targets near Taiwan to begin its military exercise after the controversial visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Beijing wasted no time to express its displeasure over Pelosi’s trip to Taipei. China summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing to record a protest over U.S. high-ranking official’s visit to Taiwan and halted several agricultural imports from Taiwan. China’s Ministry of Commerce has announced to immediately suspend the export of natural sand to Taiwan, which is an essential component for the production of semiconductor chips, the backbone of Taiwan’s economy.

In the wake of Beijing’s tightened policy toward the self-governed island, Taiwan has started negotiating with Japan and the Philippines to provide alternative aviation routes in case China blocks its airspace for Taiwan.

PLA’s live-fire drills

On August 4, 2022, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) started conducting live-fire drills around Taiwan to initiate its large-scale and unprecedented military exercise in the region. The live-fire drills and military exercises would continue until August 7, 2022. According to the Chinese state-owned media outlet, the PLA has engaged more than 100 fighter jets and bomber aircraft as well as 10 warships in the waters of the Taiwan Strait.

PLA would be using its J-20 stealth fighter jet, H-6K bomber, J-11 fighter jet, Type 052D destroyer, and Type 056A corvette as well as DF-11 short-range ballistic during the four-day military exercise. Early warning aircraft and DF-17 hypersonic missiles would also join the exercises.

On the first day, at least 11 Dongfeng long-range ballistic missiles were launched to hit the targets near the islands of Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyi in the Taiwan Strait. It is the first time after 1966 that China has chosen these islands as the targets to conduct its live-fire military drills.

The statement released by the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command defines the large-scale military exercise as a “targeted military operation to counteract the situation.” China also released a map that shows that the drills would encircle the Island of Taiwan from all sides. The spokesman for the PLA Eastern Theater Command Senior Colonel Shi Yi said that rocket forces launched multiple types of missiles from different locations. The missile carried conventional warheads to designated waters off the eastern coast of Taiwan.

Reaction to China’s large-scale military exercise

This is the first time that PLA is conducting a long-range artillery operation across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry released a statement calling China’s plans for live-fire missile drills an attempt to enforce a “maritime and aerial blockade” on Taiwan and to “threaten international waterway, challenge the international order, undermine cross-strait status quo and endanger regional security.” The statement also accused China of following “North Korea’s example of arbitrary test-fire of missiles in waters close to other countries”.

China’s live-fire military drill has also caused unease in Japan. One of the six demarcated areas for the drills around the island of Taiwan is in close proximity to Japan’s Yonaguni Island. Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said that five missiles were believed to have landed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). “This is a serious problem that concerns Japan’s security and the safety of its citizens. We strongly condemn it,” Kishi said during a press conference.

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also condemned China’s “aggressive military actions” by stating that he hopes “Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretense to increase its aggressive military action.” He further added that “The United States continues to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral efforts to change the status quo, especially by force.”