BEIJING: Chinese observers noted that Beijing has avoided provoking full-scale conflict through war games, military exercises and diplomatic responses, warning the United States and its allies against close ties with Taiwan.
According to Wu Shinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, "US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan [last week] prompted China to launch a series of counter-attacks and measures against the US and Taiwan." , which are all comprehensive and deliberate actions to prevent the US from pushing its Taiwan policy to the point of the "Ukraine War".
The People's Liberation Army intensified air and naval exercises for Taiwan a day after Pelosi left, then began three days of massive, live-fire fighting games that surrounded the island and ended on Sunday. .
The PLA launched ballistic missiles over Taiwan for the first time and sent drones into the airspace of the Qomoy Islands, which Taiwan controls, also known as Kinmen.
The PLA announced on Monday that war games in the vicinity of Taiwan would go according to plan, with a new emphasis on anti-submarine and air-to-ship attacks.
In the coming weeks, Japan will also have several military exercises in the northern Bohai and Yellow Seas. Wu claimed that the US and its major allies in regions such as Japan and Australia are being warned not to get involved in the Taiwan issue by all these unprecedented military operations.
As part of its response to Pelosi's "provocative" visit last week, Beijing has also scrapped bilateral discussions between the Chinese and US military theaters and ministries of defense, as well as exchanges on maritime military security.
Wu pointed out that Beijing is aware that "defending Taiwan in an emergency" is developing into "mainstream opinion" among Americans and that the Joe Biden administration is also on plans for closer military, diplomatic and economic ties with Taipei. is considering. The US Congress has proposed legislation on the Taiwan issue.
"The US has been pushing the envelope on the Taiwan issue with a 'salute-slicing' strategy since the [former US President] era of Donald Trump, and I think only 'a crisis' gives Americans Beijing's deep concerns over Taiwan." to be taken seriously," he said.
Wu said the military exercise also served to assess the PLA's actual combat readiness.
The PLA, unlike its American counterpart, "has not participated in the war for decades," he claimed. Beijing has carefully considered the advantages and disadvantages of these defense systems. According to a source close to the Chinese military, middle-level officials can still communicate bilaterally, which is likely to help defuse the situation.
According to Lu Lee-shih, a former naval instructor at Taiwan's Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, the ongoing PLA exercise aims to end the island's navy in a new "war of wars". "The Taiwanese Navy has only dozens of warships with a displacement of hundreds of tons, while the PLA has over 300 warships with a displacement of thousands of tons and powerful weapons," Lu claimed.
"If the PLA continues to send warships to Taiwan's coastline, Taiwan's navy will be further undermined, negating the PLA's full comparative advantage."
Military analyst Antony Wong Tong, who is based in Macau, said Chinese troops would benefit from the PLA's strategy of blocking almost all sea and air routes into Taiwan as the PLA "playing" was likely to normalize.
According to Wong, the US and its allies would be at their wits' end as a result of the island blockade game, which would force Taiwan to give up without a fight.
During the three-day exercise last week, the PLA Rocket Force was activated with the launch of 11 Dongfeng series missiles, including the medium-range DF-15B and DF-11 missiles.
The DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missile, which has a range of up to 15,000 kilometers (9,320 mi), is being developed by the PLA. Other DF missiles under development include the new, improved hypersonic DF-27 and DF-100 anti-ship cruise missiles.
According to Andrei Chang, editor-in-chief of Canada's military publication Kanwha Asian Defense, "All of the Dongfeng series missiles are capable of delivering nuclear weapons to American warships and the region, meaning the PLA is playing nuclear deterrence to warn the United States of America." respectively."
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