BEIJING: China will launch a series of military operations around the island on Tuesday night in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, according to its military.

When compared to earlier actions, the response of the People's Liberation Army on the island has markedly improved, and observers believe that such operations will probably continue in the future.

Pelosi descended on Taipei as the PLA made the long-awaited announcement that its "robust military response" was in progress. In areas north, southwest and southeast of Taiwan's coastline and airspace, they included joint naval and air force exercises.

Along with conventional-led missile testing in the waters to the east of the island, the response also included long-range, live-fire artillery shooting in the Taiwan Strait.

Xi Yi, a spokesman for the PLA's Eastern Theater Command, whose domain includes the Taiwan Strait and who is conducting the exercises, said that "this action is a serious deterrent against the recent major escalation of the United States' negative actions on the Taiwan issue." , and a dire warning to independence-seeking Taiwanese forces."

The PLA also marked six no-entry zones around the island, warning it could conduct "important military exercises with live-fire shooting" from 12 noon on Thursday. till 12 noon on sunday
No-entry zones overlap air-defense identification areas used by Taiwan's military, and to the north, northeast, and southwest, they touch about 12 nautical miles of airspace limits.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense also declared in a statement that the PLA would "resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity and completely thwart interference from outside forces and separatist efforts for Taiwan's independence." will operate."

As Pelosi's plane approached Songshan Airport in Taipei, the Chinese Air Force had already driven an unknown number of Su-35 fighter jets across the strait's midline.

However, Taiwan's Defense Ministry later announced that reports of the PLA Su-35 crossing the strait were "false" and that it would send the necessary forces to deal with the threat.
It declared in a statement, "We have the commitment, capability and confidence to ensure national security.

At least eight US Air Force fighter jets, including an F-15, were reportedly taking off from Okinawa, Japan, along with the House speaker's plane. The F-35 capable amphibious assault ships USS Tripoli and USS Ronald Reagan were positioned close to eastern waters off Taiwan as an added precaution.

According to Bonnie Glaser, Asia director of the German Marshall Fund in Washington, when then-Taiwan President Lee Tung-hui visited the US in 1996, a military crisis erupted, it was speculated that Beijing would go above and beyond its response. Will go

During that crisis, the PLA conducted coordinated exercises and launched missiles from bases on the mainland, some of which fell off the coast of Taiwan and offshore islands. It was only after two US aircraft carrier strike groups were sent to the strait and to the east of the island that tensions began to ease.

According to Glaser, Beijing's response to Pelosi's visit will likely include military threats during and after his visit.
China's military power has grown significantly over the past 20 years as a result of significant defense spending and PLA modernization.

For example, PLA aircraft crossed the strait's midline for the first time in 2011; They have continued to do so with more fighter jets since 2019.

Lu Lee-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwan Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, agreed that the crossing of the PLA's midline was unlikely to be an isolated incident.

He suggested that "it could turn into a routine operation."

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