The Taiwanese military conducted live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday, simulating a stiff defense against the sort of attack China has been simulating with its own live-fire drills ever since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island last week.
Journalists for Agence France-Presse (AFP) observed the drills, which were conducted by Taiwan’s Eighth Army Corps, and included both target flares and live shells.
The Eighth Army Corps said the exercise would include about 40 howitzers, plus hundreds of troops. A spokesman said the drill was pre-planned, rather than being hastily arranged in response to the massive live-fire exercises China is holding in the waters and airspace around Taiwan.
China’s Eastern Theater Command said on Monday that it will continue exercises around Taiwan indefinitely, with a focus on simulating a blockade of the island.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an air force pilot from the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) looks as they conduct a joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. (Wang Xinchao/Xinhua via AP)
Several dozen Chinese and Taiwanese naval vessels are currently in a “standoff” at the median line in the Taiwan Strait, with the Taiwanese ships reportedly holding off Chinese vessels that attempt to push beyond the middle of the strait.
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, center left, and Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-wen arrive for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said at a briefing in Taipei on Tuesday that China’s exercises have gone well beyond its previous harassment tactics, and could be preparation for a real blockade or invasion.
“The median line of the Taiwan Strait has kept the status quo in the strait for decades, and it’s a symbol of the status quo in the strait. This fact has been harmed for the past few days due to the Chinese drills, which affect regional peace, stability, and especially Taiwan’s security,” Wu said.
In this photo provided by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a People’s Liberation Army member looks through binoculars during military exercises as Taiwan’s frigate Lan Yang is seen at the rear, on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. China is holding drills in waters around Taiwan in response to a recent visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Lin Jian/Xinhua via AP)
“I’m sure these Chinese activities are making our friends like Japan very nervous and making our Southeast Asian friends very nervous as well. We are in the same boat,” he added.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Tuesday rejected Wu’s characterization of China’s military exercises as practice for “war invasions.”
“The countermeasures taken by China in response to Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan are justified, reasonable and lawful. They are aimed at sending a warning to the provocateurs and punishing the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” Wang said.
Wang insisted China’s military drills were “normal” and would be conducted in an “open, transparent, and professional” manner, with full respect for “international law and established international practices.”
He also pushed the drills as a demonstration of Chinese military power that should intimidate the Taiwanese and make it clear the free world cannot save them, if Beijing does decide to attack.
“This is both a warning we send to the provocateurs and a legitimate step to uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
Wang dismissed Taiwan’s live-fire drills without comment, repeating his warning that any Taiwanese effort to “go against the trend of history or to resist reunification with military force” would be “futile” and “doomed to fail.”
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