The Chinese Army’s Eastern Operations Command began its combined military maneuvers around Taiwan on Saturday in response to President Tsai Ing Wen’s meeting this week with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in what Beijing considered an affront to its sovereignty claims over the territory.

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Throughout this weekend and until next Monday, all branches of the Chinese military will carry out artillery exercises, naval and air deployments and simulated missile launches that will “encircle the island of Taiwan from four directions,” Eastern Command spokesman Col. Shi Yi told China’s state-run Global Times newspaper.

The spokesperson confirmed that these exercises are intended to send a “stern message” against “secessionist forces claiming Taiwan’s independence and their “collusion with external forces” in a “necessary move to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

These drills practically amount to a dress rehearsal of a blockade on the island; a scenario designed to prevent both the deployment of Taiwanese forces and external interference, according to military expert Song Zhongping, consulted by the same media.

China 3-day drill around Taiwan with naval asset and various types of aircraft. With carrier/destroyers deploying East of Taiwan, they will cut off the path (seaborne and airborne) of reinforcement or escape
If this is PLA battle plan, how will Taiwan be defended? pic.twitter.com/yVNhLgswXl

— David Lee (@DavidLe76335983) April 9, 2023

The military exercises that began on Saturday are divided into two phases. The first consists of the deployment of patrols on combat alert, such as those that have been flying over the Taiwan Strait for months, often briefly crossing the so-called Davis Line, which splits the strait in two and is considered the beginning of Taiwan’s security zone.

The second part of the drill consists of the development of the aforementioned joint exercises, in which fighter planes and warships “will surround the island while executing drills oriented to real combat”, according to other military experts, this time on condition of anonymity, to the Chinese newspaper.

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, at least 42 fighter planes and eight warships have been detected this Saturday and 29 of those planes entered its air defense space in the northern, central and southern areas of the island.

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The drills will conclude on Monday with a live-fire drill off the coast of Pingtan, in China’s Fujian province and just 130 kilometers from Taiwan, under a special military drill alert declared by the East China Maritime Safety Administration.

Moreover, although the combined exercises will end on Monday, the agency has issued additional live-fire drill alerts through April 20 off the coast of Fuzhou, about 90 kilometers north of Pingtan.

-Thailand News (TN)