WAR CHINA THREATENS TO INVADE TAIWAN
- Thread starter danielboon
- Start date
jward
passin' thru
Will Ripley
@willripleyCNN
2h
#breakingChina blasts US for "irresponsible remarks" over Taiwan: "The US has continued its negative actions in selling weapons to Taiwan & boosting its official military ties...China firmly opposes this and takes necessary countermeasures."
@LarryMadowo
@EricCheungwc
@cnni
View: https://twitter.com/willripleyCNN/status/1445067147978358790?s=20
@willripleyCNN
2h
#breakingChina blasts US for "irresponsible remarks" over Taiwan: "The US has continued its negative actions in selling weapons to Taiwan & boosting its official military ties...China firmly opposes this and takes necessary countermeasures."
@LarryMadowo
@EricCheungwc
@cnni
View: https://twitter.com/willripleyCNN/status/1445067147978358790?s=20
jward
passin' thru
Taiwan Informs Australia It's 'Preparing For War' As China Sends Record 52 PLA Jets Toward Island
by Tyler Durden
Monday, Oct 04, 2021 - 09:20 AM
Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu in a hugely provocative interview with Australian broadcasting ABC's China tonight program warned that Taiwan is preparing for war with China and urged its larger Indo-Pacific neighbor to help.
Wu said his nation will repel any coming attack, "The defense of Taiwan is in our own hands, and we are absolutely committed to that," he told ABC's Stan Grant. The interview is set for broadcast on Monday evening (local time). "If China is going to launch a war against Taiwan we will fight to the end, and that is our commitment."
He made an appeal to Australia's leaders for greater support to Taiwan during the growing crisis and showdown.
Getty Images
"I'm sure that if China is going to launch an attack against Taiwan, I think they are going to suffer tremendously as well," Wu threatened. It comes after Friday and Saturday Chinese PLA jet incursions into Taiwan's air defense zone. Friday's breaches saw 38 total jets fly toward Taiwan while Saturday saw 39.
Though Australia doesn't officially recognize the self-ruled island, Wu appealed to leaders in Canberra as follows: "We would like to engage in security or intelligence exchanges with other like-minded partners, Australia included, so Taiwan is better prepared to deal with the war situation."
"And so far, our relations with Australia [are] very good and that is what we appreciate," Wu added.
China has already given a resounding 'response' to these latest provocative statements out of Taiwan, on Monday sending a record-smashing 52 PLA jets to breach southwest defense zone.
At the same time Chinese pundits have downplayed the repeat aerial incursions, which are getting bigger and bigger, as but routine exercises that Beijing has every right to conduct...
Without doubt, the increasingly large incursions which have seen Taiwan scramble it's F-16 fighters and activate anti-air defenses - and ramped up frequency (almost daily at this point) - leaves open the possibility of a 'live fire' incident that could spark major war.
www.zerohedge.com
by Tyler Durden
Monday, Oct 04, 2021 - 09:20 AM
Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu in a hugely provocative interview with Australian broadcasting ABC's China tonight program warned that Taiwan is preparing for war with China and urged its larger Indo-Pacific neighbor to help.
Wu said his nation will repel any coming attack, "The defense of Taiwan is in our own hands, and we are absolutely committed to that," he told ABC's Stan Grant. The interview is set for broadcast on Monday evening (local time). "If China is going to launch a war against Taiwan we will fight to the end, and that is our commitment."
He made an appeal to Australia's leaders for greater support to Taiwan during the growing crisis and showdown.
Getty Images"I'm sure that if China is going to launch an attack against Taiwan, I think they are going to suffer tremendously as well," Wu threatened. It comes after Friday and Saturday Chinese PLA jet incursions into Taiwan's air defense zone. Friday's breaches saw 38 total jets fly toward Taiwan while Saturday saw 39.
Though Australia doesn't officially recognize the self-ruled island, Wu appealed to leaders in Canberra as follows: "We would like to engage in security or intelligence exchanges with other like-minded partners, Australia included, so Taiwan is better prepared to deal with the war situation."
"And so far, our relations with Australia [are] very good and that is what we appreciate," Wu added.
China has already given a resounding 'response' to these latest provocative statements out of Taiwan, on Monday sending a record-smashing 52 PLA jets to breach southwest defense zone.
Reuters writes of the new Monday breach: "Taiwan's air force scrambled again on Monday to warn away 52 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defense zone, Taiwan's defense ministry said, the largest number to date reported by Taipei and the fourth straight day of Chinese incursions."
At the same time Chinese pundits have downplayed the repeat aerial incursions, which are getting bigger and bigger, as but routine exercises that Beijing has every right to conduct...
Regardless the growing size of the PLA formations - particularly Monday's whopping 52 aircraft - is an unmistakable 'message' and threat to Taipei from Beijing.
Without doubt, the increasingly large incursions which have seen Taiwan scramble it's F-16 fighters and activate anti-air defenses - and ramped up frequency (almost daily at this point) - leaves open the possibility of a 'live fire' incident that could spark major war.
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
jward
passin' thru
globaltimes.cn
Time to warn Taiwan secessionists and their fomenters: war is real: Global Times editorial
Global Times
Time to warn Taiwan secessionists and their fomenters: war is real: Global Times editorial
Photo: Xinhua/Liu Rui
The US State Department issued a statement on Sunday, saying the PLA was conducting intensive training exercises over Taiwan island's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone in the past few days. The statement accused the PLA of carrying out "provocative military activities" that “undermines regional peace and stability", adding "the US commitment to Taiwan is rock solid.” The Taiwan foreign affairs department immediately expressed gratitude to the Biden administration.
During the National Day holiday, the number of the PLA fighter jets and other military planes set a record high in their sorties over the Taiwan Straits. On Monday, before the publication of this article, Taiwan media outlets reported that the number of the PLA sorties reached 18 on Monday.
The intensive actions of the PLA Air Force are not only a severe warning to the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities on the island, but also clearly portrayed the severity of the situation across the Taiwan Straits, and at the same time gave a clear warning to the supporters of the DPP authorities.
The peaceful atmosphere that existed in the area only a few years ago has all but disappeared, and the DPP authorities now openly refer to PLA fighters as "enemy aircraft". They have constantly hyped up claims that they are at the forefront of the so-called democratic world to resist "authoritarian rule”. The strategic collusion between the US and Japan and the DPP authorities is becoming more audacious, and the situation across the Taiwan Straits has almost lost any room for maneuver teetering on the edge of a face-off, creating a sense of urgency that the war maybe triggered at any time.
The secessionist forces on the island will never be allowed to secede Taiwan from China under whatever names or by whatever means, and, the island will not be allowed to act as an outpost of the US’ strategic containment against China.
After Tsai Ing-wen came to office, the status quo of peaceful cooperation across the Taiwan Straits was disrupted. The US government and the DPP authorities are trying to deeply integrate the island into the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy targeting China. The Chinese mainland will not tolerate the integration of the island and the US.
The curtain of preparations for a comprehensive military struggle by the Chinese mainland has obviously been drawn open. The PLA's military drills in the Taiwan Straits are no longer limited to declaring China’s sovereignty over the island, but to implement various forms of assembly, mobilization, assault and logistical preparations that are required to take back the island of Taiwan. Without giving up efforts for a peaceful reunification, it has increasingly become the new mainstream public opinion on the Chinese mainland that the mainland should make earnest preparations based on the possibility of combat.
Now, we will like to warn the DPP authorities and their supporters: do not continue to play with fire. They should see that the Chinese mainland’s preparation to use force against Taiwan secessionist forces is much stronger than ever before.
Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing national reunification has never become so weightier on the shoulders of all Chinese people. Not only the US, but also some other countries are trying to use the Taiwan question as a card to play against Beijing. A fundamental solution to the Taiwan question is becoming all the more reasonable day by day.
If the US and the DPP authorities do not take the initiative to reverse the current situation, the Chinese mainland's military punishment for "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces will eventually be triggered. Time will prove that this warning is not just a verbal threat.
Posted For Fair Use
OldAndCrazy
Pureblood Forever
Maybe we stick a CBG between the Ti's and the 'com's and see what happens.
From the pic above it looks like we want to put 4 there.
Can that Japanese carrier be fitted to take F-35s?
wow.
globaltimes.cn
Time to warn Taiwan secessionists and their fomenters: war is real: Global Times editorial
Global Times
Time to warn Taiwan secessionists and their fomenters: war is real: Global Times editorial
Photo: Xinhua/Liu Rui
The US State Department issued a statement on Sunday, saying the PLA was conducting intensive training exercises over Taiwan island's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone in the past few days. The statement accused the PLA of carrying out "provocative military activities" that “undermines regional peace and stability", adding "the US commitment to Taiwan is rock solid.” The Taiwan foreign affairs department immediately expressed gratitude to the Biden administration.
During the National Day holiday, the number of the PLA fighter jets and other military planes set a record high in their sorties over the Taiwan Straits. On Monday, before the publication of this article, Taiwan media outlets reported that the number of the PLA sorties reached 18 on Monday.
The intensive actions of the PLA Air Force are not only a severe warning to the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities on the island, but also clearly portrayed the severity of the situation across the Taiwan Straits, and at the same time gave a clear warning to the supporters of the DPP authorities.
The peaceful atmosphere that existed in the area only a few years ago has all but disappeared, and the DPP authorities now openly refer to PLA fighters as "enemy aircraft". They have constantly hyped up claims that they are at the forefront of the so-called democratic world to resist "authoritarian rule”. The strategic collusion between the US and Japan and the DPP authorities is becoming more audacious, and the situation across the Taiwan Straits has almost lost any room for maneuver teetering on the edge of a face-off, creating a sense of urgency that the war maybe triggered at any time.
The secessionist forces on the island will never be allowed to secede Taiwan from China under whatever names or by whatever means, and, the island will not be allowed to act as an outpost of the US’ strategic containment against China.
After Tsai Ing-wen came to office, the status quo of peaceful cooperation across the Taiwan Straits was disrupted. The US government and the DPP authorities are trying to deeply integrate the island into the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy targeting China. The Chinese mainland will not tolerate the integration of the island and the US.
The curtain of preparations for a comprehensive military struggle by the Chinese mainland has obviously been drawn open. The PLA's military drills in the Taiwan Straits are no longer limited to declaring China’s sovereignty over the island, but to implement various forms of assembly, mobilization, assault and logistical preparations that are required to take back the island of Taiwan. Without giving up efforts for a peaceful reunification, it has increasingly become the new mainstream public opinion on the Chinese mainland that the mainland should make earnest preparations based on the possibility of combat.
Now, we will like to warn the DPP authorities and their supporters: do not continue to play with fire. They should see that the Chinese mainland’s preparation to use force against Taiwan secessionist forces is much stronger than ever before.
Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing national reunification has never become so weightier on the shoulders of all Chinese people. Not only the US, but also some other countries are trying to use the Taiwan question as a card to play against Beijing. A fundamental solution to the Taiwan question is becoming all the more reasonable day by day.
If the US and the DPP authorities do not take the initiative to reverse the current situation, the Chinese mainland's military punishment for "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces will eventually be triggered. Time will prove that this warning is not just a verbal threat.
Posted For Fair Use
just one step from a formal declaration of actual war.
okie-carbine
Veteran Member
Of course that will probably be several hours after the initial strikes on Taiwan.
northern watch
TB Fanatic
jward
passin' thru
Taiwan says needs to be on alert to 'over the top' China
FILE PHOTO: Chinese and Taiwanese national flags are displayed alongside military airplanes in this illustration taken April 9, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan needs to be on alert for China's "over the top" military activities which are violating regional peace, Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Tuesday, after 56 Chinese aircraft [URL='https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-reports-surge-chinese-aircraft-defence-zone-2021-10-04']here flew into Taiwan's air defence zone on Monday, the highest ever.[/URL]
Taiwan has reported 148 Chinese air force planes in the southern and southwestern part of its air defence zone over a four day period beginning on Friday, the same day China marked a key patriotic holiday, National Day.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory, which should be taken by force if necessary. Taiwan says they are an independent country and will defend their freedoms and democracy.
Taiwan calls China’s repeated nearby military activities “grey zone” warfare, designed to both wear out Taiwan’s forces by making them repeatedly scramble, and also to test Taiwan’s responses.
“Taiwan must be on alert. China is more and more over the top,” Su told reporters in Taipei. “The world has also seen China’s repeated violations of regional peace and pressure on Taiwan.”
Taiwan needs to “strengthen itself” and come together as one, he added.
“Only then will countries that want to annex Taiwan not dare to easily resort to force. Only when we help ourselves can others help us.”
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has made modernising the armed forces a priority, focusing on the use of new, mobile weapons to make any attack by China as costly as possible, turning Taiwan into a “porcupine”.
The United States, Taiwan’s main military supplier, has described China’s increasing military activities near the island as destabilising and reiterated its “rock-solid” commitment to Taiwan.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/UMW46IB5MJKS5MFOCHDPII4E4Y.jpg)
Taiwan says it needs to be alert to 'over the top' military activities by China
Taiwan needs to be on alert for China's "over the top" military activities, the premier said on Tuesday, after a record 56 Chinese aircraft flew into Taiwan's air defence zone, while the president said the island would do what it took to defend itself.
www.reuters.com
I find it funny that the tweet states China is "angry" about that. L O L
Its all kabuki. In reality they have a hard on that we were stupid enough to put 4 of our carriers so close to them. Were almost handing our carriers over on a silver platter.
Cowgirl4christ
Senior Member
I have students many students in Nanchang… not far from Taiwan (compared to other cities, of course)
Yes, that is the intent of the Japanese Self Defense Force. Amphibious Assault Ships + F35 VTOLS are in their future…
OA
Jaybird
Veteran Member
And? What are they saying?
Cowgirl4christ
Senior Member
About Taiwan specifically? Positively nothing. They can’t talk about it on social media. I don’t ask. But they sure as heck are carrying on as normal. A friend just posted a short video clip of thousands of people ate a beach in Shenzhen. They obviously aren’t worried. My friend lives in Shenzhen. Most likely, they dont know what’s happening. Something g interesting I will note, I cannot use a map that has Taiwan even on the map. I have to use an approved map provided by the company that does not have Taiwan on it. So there’s that. Like I said, the people are awesome. I traveled alone half the time and I don’t speak a lick of Chinese not had an app. I never felt unsafe. The way we have everything in English and Spanish, they have Chinese and English. But, when it comes to talking about their government, I don’t bring it up unless they do and I just listen. They usually just find ways around laws and regulations. They can’t get around this new regulation forbidding tutoring. In regards to taiwan, we’ve been strictly forbidden to mention it in class.
Jaybird
Veteran Member
Thank you for that.
jward
passin' thru
U.S. warns China to "cease" as record number of Chinese military flights test Taiwan's airspace
Ramy Ramy
October 4, 2021 / 9:15 AM / CBS News
Hong Kong — China's military has flown a record number of aircraft sorties into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone over the last four days. The People's Liberation Army flights testing Taiwan's airspace represent the most aggressive military posturing to date from China, and they drew a warning from the Biden administration late on Sunday evening.
"The United States is very concerned by the People's Republic of China's provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan."
On October 1, as modern China celebrated the 72nd anniversary of its founding, 38 People's Liberation Army aircraft flew close to southwest Taiwan before circling back. The next day, Chinese planes flew 39 more sorties. Sunday saw 16 more flights, all following a similar path.
On Monday, hours after the warning to China from Washington, Taiwan's defense ministry said another 52 Chinese military planes had entered the island's air defense zone — by far the most ever in a single day — bringing the total over four days to 145 flights.
Taipei has scrambled its own aircraft in response, issued radio warnings and deployed air defense missile systems as it monitors the Chinese aircraft. Those planes included Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, considered a core element in China's military strength, along with Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jets and Xian H-6 twin-engine bombers, which analysts expect to become central to China's bomber force in the 2030s. Shaanxi Y-8 ASW turbo transport submarine hunters and Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning aircraft were also on display, testing Taiwain's resolve to defend its airspace.
What new AUKUS pact means for U.S. and China 05:15
China considers democratically-governed Taiwan a renegade province. President Xi Jinping, widely seen as China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has vowed to reunify the island, and he hasn't ruled out the use of military force to do so.
Taiwan and its approximately 24 million people — a population on par with Australia's — consider the island a sovereign nation. The U.S. and its allies try to walk an incredibly fine line: A pledge to defend Taiwan from external threats is literally written into U.S. law, but Washington also does not treat Taiwan as an entirely independent nation.
Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, passed by the U.S. Congress after Washington switched official diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei, Washington is obligated to support Taiwan's defense capabilities against China.
In August, the Biden administration approved its first arms sales to Taiwan — a $750 million proposal that includes howitzer artillery units, armored vehicles and machine guns. The Trump administration in 2020 approved a $1.8 billion arms deal to Taiwan. Past sales have also included fighter jets and missiles.
This year, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Taiwan as the most democratic country in East Asia, and the 11th most democratic in the world. China, labelled an authoritarian regime, was ranked at number 151.
The Washington-based Freedom House organization ranked Taiwan as the second-freest country or territory in Asia after Japan, and the seventh freest in the world. The group ranked China as "not free."
When contacted by CBS News, Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Ministry provided a statement saying it was "deeply grateful that the Biden administration took the initiative to issue this statement over the weekend to condemn China's provocative actions and reiterate its commitment to Taiwan."
"We will continue to bolster cooperation with the U.S. and other like-minded nations to protect the rules-based international order and promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," the ministry said.
On Friday, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu personally tweeted about the Chinese military flights, saying it "wasn't a good day."
"Threatening? Of course. It's strange the #PRC doesn't bother faking excuses anymore," said the tweet, which was signed with the top diplomat's initials to show he'd written it himself.
"Taiwan is an advocate of peace in East Asia," said Taipei city spokesman and former ambassador Tom Chou in response to a CBS News request for comment from the mayor's office. "The record number of intrusions into Taiwan's airspace from China's PLA (People's Liberation Army) is a serious threat to Taiwan and will destabilize the status quo of peace in East Asia,"
"Taiwan plays an important role in global hi-tech supply chains, in particular semiconductor industry," noted Chou. "If the crisis is not handled properly, the world's hi-tech supply chains will be adversely affected [and] that will further slow down the pace of the global economic recovery. This explains why the United States has come forward to tell China to stop its intrusions into Taiwan's airspace. The people of Taiwan are very grateful to the United States for extending a helping hand during this crisis."
Ramy Inocencio
Ramy Inocencio is the Asia correspondent for CBS News based in Beijing.
Posted for fair use
Please see source for additional video
Taiwan "very concerned that China is going to launch a war" to take over, foreign minister says
Taiwan, a strategic U.S. ally claimed by Beijing as sovereign territory, says 145 Chinese military planes have violated its air defense zone in four days.
www.cbsnews.com
jward
passin' thru
Conflict risk could rise without Beijing-Taipei channel, mainland Chinese expert warns
The absence of a communication mechanism between Beijing and Taipei is raising the risk of a military conflict, a mainland defence analyst has warned. Photo: 81.com
The lack of communication between Beijing and Taipei risks further escalation of
tension across the Taiwan Strait
, a mainland Chinese defence expert has warned.
Former People’s Liberation Army researcher Zhang Tuosheng said that while dialogue channels between China and the United States gave the parties a “fairly strong” prospect of avoiding military conflict, there was a greater risk of conflict between Beijing and Taipei.
“Dialogue between the two sides has stopped for a long time, and they have not established any mechanism of military and security mutual trust,” Zhang told an online forum on Saturday night.
A summary of his remarks was published on Monday by the Grandview Institution, a Beijing-based think tank he is associated with.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...-test-taiwans?module=hard_link&pgtype=article
Months after
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen
was elected in 2016, Beijing cut off a communication channel set up by the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office and the island’s Mainland Affairs Council in 2014.
Beijing said it took the action because Tsai stopped short of recognising the 1992 consensus, an understanding on both sides that there is “one China” but that each side has its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The warning from Zhang, a former researcher on strategic issues with the PLA National Defence University, came after
a record 39 People’s Liberation Army warplanes
entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Saturday.
The defence ministry of the self-ruled island said it broke the previous record of 38 jets sent on Friday.
An earlier record was set in June, when 28 PLA warplanes were reported in the island’s defence zone.
Then on Monday, the PLA went one step further – sending 52 warplanes, including 34 J-16 fighter jets, 12 H-6 bombers and 2 Su-30 fighter jets, to Taiwan’s southwest air-defence zone, prompting the island’s air force to scramble jets and deploy missiles to warn them off, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Sunday that Washington was “very concerned” about the drills and that its commitment to Taiwan was “rock solid”.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/mil...-island-chain?module=hard_link&pgtype=article
Zhang said the PLA’s efforts were mainly intended to deter pro-independence forces and “acts of provocation”.
“A number of actions involving PLA planes and ships near Taiwan and the timing of the combat drills near Taiwan in the last few years are all related to new provocations by the US and Taiwan,” he said, adding that the military pressure had yielded “some good results”.
“The Tsai Ing-wen government had to take an ambiguous stance without declaring independence of Taiwan.”
In addition, Zhang said, even the administration of former US president Donald Trump administration had not abandoned the one-China principle and the White House under successor
Joe Biden
had not explicitly supported Taiwan independence.
He said that in the “worst-case scenario”, the mainland’s military preparations could prove to be “immensely powerful”.
But there was a “strong willingness” between China and the US to avoid armed conflict and to strengthen “certain important crisis management mechanisms”.
Quoting late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, Zhang said Beijing would be restrained in its actions.
“Mainland China has never forgotten about China-US crisis management when it conducted a military struggle against Taiwan,” he said.
“Even when [Beijing and Taipei] were shelling each other in the 1950s, Chairman Mao had said ‘only attack the Chiang [Kai-shek] ships – not the American ships’.”
www.scmp.com
- The threat of a cross-strait clash is building without a way for the two sides to foster trust, former PLA researcher says
- Growing PLA presence near island meant to deter pro-independence forces, he says
The absence of a communication mechanism between Beijing and Taipei is raising the risk of a military conflict, a mainland defence analyst has warned. Photo: 81.com
The lack of communication between Beijing and Taipei risks further escalation of
tension across the Taiwan Strait
, a mainland Chinese defence expert has warned.
Former People’s Liberation Army researcher Zhang Tuosheng said that while dialogue channels between China and the United States gave the parties a “fairly strong” prospect of avoiding military conflict, there was a greater risk of conflict between Beijing and Taipei.
“Dialogue between the two sides has stopped for a long time, and they have not established any mechanism of military and security mutual trust,” Zhang told an online forum on Saturday night.
A summary of his remarks was published on Monday by the Grandview Institution, a Beijing-based think tank he is associated with.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...-test-taiwans?module=hard_link&pgtype=article
Months after
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen
was elected in 2016, Beijing cut off a communication channel set up by the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office and the island’s Mainland Affairs Council in 2014.
Beijing said it took the action because Tsai stopped short of recognising the 1992 consensus, an understanding on both sides that there is “one China” but that each side has its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The warning from Zhang, a former researcher on strategic issues with the PLA National Defence University, came after
a record 39 People’s Liberation Army warplanes
entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Saturday.
The defence ministry of the self-ruled island said it broke the previous record of 38 jets sent on Friday.
An earlier record was set in June, when 28 PLA warplanes were reported in the island’s defence zone.
Then on Monday, the PLA went one step further – sending 52 warplanes, including 34 J-16 fighter jets, 12 H-6 bombers and 2 Su-30 fighter jets, to Taiwan’s southwest air-defence zone, prompting the island’s air force to scramble jets and deploy missiles to warn them off, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Sunday that Washington was “very concerned” about the drills and that its commitment to Taiwan was “rock solid”.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/mil...-island-chain?module=hard_link&pgtype=article
Zhang said the PLA’s efforts were mainly intended to deter pro-independence forces and “acts of provocation”.
“A number of actions involving PLA planes and ships near Taiwan and the timing of the combat drills near Taiwan in the last few years are all related to new provocations by the US and Taiwan,” he said, adding that the military pressure had yielded “some good results”.
“The Tsai Ing-wen government had to take an ambiguous stance without declaring independence of Taiwan.”
In addition, Zhang said, even the administration of former US president Donald Trump administration had not abandoned the one-China principle and the White House under successor
Joe Biden
had not explicitly supported Taiwan independence.
He said that in the “worst-case scenario”, the mainland’s military preparations could prove to be “immensely powerful”.
But there was a “strong willingness” between China and the US to avoid armed conflict and to strengthen “certain important crisis management mechanisms”.
Quoting late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, Zhang said Beijing would be restrained in its actions.
“Mainland China has never forgotten about China-US crisis management when it conducted a military struggle against Taiwan,” he said.
“Even when [Beijing and Taipei] were shelling each other in the 1950s, Chairman Mao had said ‘only attack the Chiang [Kai-shek] ships – not the American ships’.”
Beijing and Taipei aren’t talking, ‘raising risk of military conflict’
The threat of a cross-strait clash is building without a way for the two sides to foster trust, former PLA researcher says.
www.scmp.com
jward
passin' thru
Taiwan president warns of 'catastrophic' consequences if it falls to China
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan falling to China would trigger “catastrophic” consequences for peace in Asia, President Tsai Ing-wen wrote in a piece for Foreign Affairs published on Tuesday, and if threatened Taiwan will do whatever it takes to defend itself.
FILE PHOTO: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen makes a speech ahead of the light show at the Presidential Office building for the National Day celebration in Taipei, Taiwan, October 6, 2020. REUTER/Ann Wang
Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its sovereign territory, has faced a massive stepping here up of pressure from Beijing since Friday, with 148 Chinese air force aircraft flying into Taiwan's air defence zone over a four-day period.
China has blamed the United States, Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, for the rise in tensions, while Taiwan has called China the “chief culprit” in the current situation.
Writing in Foreign Affairs, Tsai said as countries increasingly recognise the threat China’s Communist Party poses, they should understand the value of working with the island.
“And they should remember that if Taiwan were to fall, the consequences would be catastrophic for regional peace and the democratic alliance system. It would signal that in today’s global contest of values, authoritarianism has the upper hand over democracy,” Tsai wrote.
China believes Tsai is a separatist for refusing to accept that Taiwan is part of “one China”, and has cut off dialogue.
Tsai says Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.
Taiwan does not seek military confrontation, and wants peaceful, stable, predictable and mutually beneficial coexistence with its neighbours, she wrote.
“But if its democracy and way of life are threatened, Taiwan will do whatever it takes to defend itself,” Tsai said, adding Taiwanese people would “rise up” should Taiwan’s existence be threatened having made clear that democracy is non-negotiable.
She reiterated a call for talks with China, as long as it happens in a spirit of equality and without political preconditions, something Beijing has repeatedly rejected.
“Amid almost daily intrusions by the People’s Liberation Army, our position on cross-strait relations remains constant: Taiwan will not bend to pressure, but nor will it turn adventurist, even when it accumulates support from the international community.”
Taiwan is both vibrantly democratic and Western, but influenced by Chinese civilization and shaped by Asian traditions, Tsai wrote.
“Taiwan, by virtue of both its very existence and its continued prosperity, represents at once an affront to the narrative and an impediment to the regional ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/54GIWRKQKVJFHPKDESYWD5ZXWI.jpg)
www.reuters.com
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan falling to China would trigger “catastrophic” consequences for peace in Asia, President Tsai Ing-wen wrote in a piece for Foreign Affairs published on Tuesday, and if threatened Taiwan will do whatever it takes to defend itself.
FILE PHOTO: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen makes a speech ahead of the light show at the Presidential Office building for the National Day celebration in Taipei, Taiwan, October 6, 2020. REUTER/Ann Wang
Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its sovereign territory, has faced a massive stepping here up of pressure from Beijing since Friday, with 148 Chinese air force aircraft flying into Taiwan's air defence zone over a four-day period.
China has blamed the United States, Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, for the rise in tensions, while Taiwan has called China the “chief culprit” in the current situation.
Writing in Foreign Affairs, Tsai said as countries increasingly recognise the threat China’s Communist Party poses, they should understand the value of working with the island.
“And they should remember that if Taiwan were to fall, the consequences would be catastrophic for regional peace and the democratic alliance system. It would signal that in today’s global contest of values, authoritarianism has the upper hand over democracy,” Tsai wrote.
China believes Tsai is a separatist for refusing to accept that Taiwan is part of “one China”, and has cut off dialogue.
Tsai says Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.
Taiwan does not seek military confrontation, and wants peaceful, stable, predictable and mutually beneficial coexistence with its neighbours, she wrote.
“But if its democracy and way of life are threatened, Taiwan will do whatever it takes to defend itself,” Tsai said, adding Taiwanese people would “rise up” should Taiwan’s existence be threatened having made clear that democracy is non-negotiable.
She reiterated a call for talks with China, as long as it happens in a spirit of equality and without political preconditions, something Beijing has repeatedly rejected.
“Amid almost daily intrusions by the People’s Liberation Army, our position on cross-strait relations remains constant: Taiwan will not bend to pressure, but nor will it turn adventurist, even when it accumulates support from the international community.”
Taiwan is both vibrantly democratic and Western, but influenced by Chinese civilization and shaped by Asian traditions, Tsai wrote.
“Taiwan, by virtue of both its very existence and its continued prosperity, represents at once an affront to the narrative and an impediment to the regional ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Taiwan president warns of 'catastrophic' consequences if it falls to China
Taiwan falling to China would trigger "catastrophic" consequences for peace in Asia, President Tsai Ing-wen wrote in a piece for Foreign Affairs published on Tuesday, and if threatened Taiwan will do whatever it takes to defend itself.
www.reuters.com
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China sharply escalates warplane provocations near Taiwan
Fresh sortie Monday; exercises include nuclear-capable bombers
n this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, center, speaks with military personnel near aircraft parked on a highway in Jiadong, Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. Four military aircraft landed on the highway and took off again on Wednesday as part of Taiwan's five-day Han Guang military exercise designed to prepare the island's forces for an attack by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) ** FILE **
By Bill Gertz - The Washington Times - Monday, October 4, 2021
China’s military stepped up provocative aerial incursions near Taiwan on Monday with its biggest sortie to date, sending 58 warplanes, including 12 nuclear-capable bombers, inside the island’s air defense zone, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said.
Flights on Friday and Saturday traveled into the same southern air defense zone in what Chinese state media called practice for a military assault on Taiwan, an island state 100 miles off the southern Chinese coast. Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory.
The incursions Monday, in two waves, were the largest so far in what appears to be a Beijing-directed campaign of coercion. The flights bring the total aircraft flying into the air defense zone since late last week to 136 and represent a People’s Liberation Army escalation of tension.
“The United States is very concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Saturday. “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan.”
The Taiwanese ministry said the flights Monday included 52 aircraft during the day and four J-16 jets during the evening. In addition to 12 H-6 bombers, the daytime flights included 34 J-16s, two Su-30 jets, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft and two KJ-500 airborne warning and control aircraft, the ministry said on its website.
In response, Taiwanese interceptor jets were scrambled and air defense missile systems were deployed. The Taiwanese military also warned the Chinese aircraft to leave the area.
In saber-rattling incursions Sunday, 16 jets — eight J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes and two KJ-500 airborne warning and control aircraft — flew close to the island, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said in a post on Twitter.
That mass incursion followed a total of 38 PLA aircraft on Friday and 39 aircraft on Saturday, also a mix of fighters and electronic warfare and monitoring aircraft.
Chinese state media have said the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan is a sign that the Biden administration would not come to the aid of its unofficial ally. China has told Taiwanese leaders that the United States would abandon them in ways similar to the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, which fell to the Taliban militia in 11 days.
The increased air incursions are part of what Chinese state media called routine and normal military exercises aimed at deterring Taiwanese forces and “foreign interference,” the nationalist, state-controlled Global Times newspaper said. The record-breaking number of aircraft incursions also was a response to the dispatch of U.S. and allied aircraft carriers near the island.
The USS Ronald Reagan and USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike groups sailed near Taiwan on Sept. 27, according to news reports.
Menacing messaging
“Flying these high-risk sorties near Taiwan is just another way of dictating terms, contrary to all their commitments to resolve the Taiwan question peacefully through dialogue,” said David Stilwell, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. “This mode of messaging is especially dangerous because the people making these decisions in Beijing think in terrestrial terms. They think these actions are slow-moving and reversible.”
The danger of a conflict breaking out is greater when aircraft are used in messaging, he said. Unlike ships, planes are fragile. Even small collisions with intercepting Taiwanese aircraft could lead to disastrous outcomes.
“Intercepts are dicey things. Determining what constitutes a hostile act is never easy,” said Mr. Stilwell, a former Air Force F-16 pilot. “And flying armed combat aircraft at Taiwan, which is obligated to intercept inbound PLA aircraft with armed combat aircraft of its own, is downright reckless.”
Most of the earlier Chinese aerial incursions involved reconnaissance jets or bombers.
“Pointing combat aircraft with forward-firing ordnance at each other is a great way to send the wrong message,” Mr. Stilwell said.
Rick Fisher, a Chinese military affairs expert with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the communist regime in Beijing is in its fourth year of escalating military pressure to demoralize and coerce 23 million people in Taiwan.
“The Chinese Communist Party is using this crude military pressure as part of an orchestra of coercion, [one] that includes a massive insidious propaganda global political campaign to erase any recognition of a free Taiwan and the weaponization of its political, economic and cultural relations with Taiwan,” Mr. Fisher said.
The stepped-up flights also are designed to improve the PLA’s joint war-fighting operations and strategies.
Mr. Fisher said he thinks Beijing’s intimidation efforts will only increase.
“The PLA is barely getting started with its military coercion,” he said. “It should be expected that future exercises will include multiple aircraft carriers supporting simultaneous amphibious assaults, to include use of anti-ship ballistic missiles and perhaps anti-satellite demonstrations.”
The United States should consider a closer relationship with Taiwan to deter military aggression, Mr. Fisher said.
China’s leadership is “clearly preparing to wage war to destroy the democratic future chosen by the vast majority of Taiwanese,” Mr. Fisher said. “It is overdue for the United States to consider a new relationship with Taiwan that will allow for a revival of Taiwan-U.S. military cooperation sufficient to defeat and thus deter a Chinese invasion.”
A ‘declaration of sovereignty’
The Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party newspaper, said the aerial effort is “a clear and unmistakable declaration of China’s sovereignty over the island.”
The warplanes “were not a guard of honor,” the newspaper said.
“They are fighting forces aimed at actual combat,” the newspaper stated. “The warplanes that gathered over the [Taiwan Strait] were possibly dispatched from different airports, showing the strong ability of the PLA to form a wartime air attack.”
The mass air incursions amount to a major increase in the number of flights into the air defense zone.
Until last week, the PLA was conducting incursions on a near-daily basis using one or two aircraft.
“The PLA is forming a siege of Taiwan with a show of strength as it did in Beijing in 1949,” said the Global Times, referring to the civil war that ended with Chinese Nationalist Party forces ousted from the mainland and taking refuge on Taiwan.
Retired Gen. H.R. McMaster, for a time President Trump’s national security adviser, warned Monday that the U.S. and its allies are entering a “very dangerous time” in their relations with China.
In a roundtable with reporters hosted by the Hudson Institute, Mr. McMaster said the flights align with China’s long-standing campaign of coercion against Taiwan, but he would not rule out the advent of a more belligerent approach.
“I wouldn’t discount it,” he said. “I think that it’s really important for the United States, for Japan, the free world, the European Union to make clear to China that this kind of aggression is unacceptable.”
He said Chinese President Xi Jinping has become emboldened after sustaining few international consequences over his aggressive clampdown in Hong Kong and other internal places.
Mr. Price, the State Department spokesman, said the United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.
“We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability,” he said, noting the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which calls for selling defensive arms to Taiwan and U.S.-Chinese communiques and agreements.
“The U.S. commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region,” Mr. Price said. “We will continue to stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security and values and deepen our ties with democratic Taiwan.”
• Joseph Clark contributed to this report.
China sharply escalates warplane provocations near Taiwan - Washington Times
Fresh sortie Monday; exercises include nuclear-capable bombers
n this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, center, speaks with military personnel near aircraft parked on a highway in Jiadong, Taiwan, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. Four military aircraft landed on the highway and took off again on Wednesday as part of Taiwan's five-day Han Guang military exercise designed to prepare the island's forces for an attack by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) ** FILE **
By Bill Gertz - The Washington Times - Monday, October 4, 2021
China’s military stepped up provocative aerial incursions near Taiwan on Monday with its biggest sortie to date, sending 58 warplanes, including 12 nuclear-capable bombers, inside the island’s air defense zone, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said.
Flights on Friday and Saturday traveled into the same southern air defense zone in what Chinese state media called practice for a military assault on Taiwan, an island state 100 miles off the southern Chinese coast. Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory.
The incursions Monday, in two waves, were the largest so far in what appears to be a Beijing-directed campaign of coercion. The flights bring the total aircraft flying into the air defense zone since late last week to 136 and represent a People’s Liberation Army escalation of tension.
“The United States is very concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Saturday. “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan.”
The Taiwanese ministry said the flights Monday included 52 aircraft during the day and four J-16 jets during the evening. In addition to 12 H-6 bombers, the daytime flights included 34 J-16s, two Su-30 jets, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft and two KJ-500 airborne warning and control aircraft, the ministry said on its website.
In response, Taiwanese interceptor jets were scrambled and air defense missile systems were deployed. The Taiwanese military also warned the Chinese aircraft to leave the area.
In saber-rattling incursions Sunday, 16 jets — eight J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes and two KJ-500 airborne warning and control aircraft — flew close to the island, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said in a post on Twitter.
That mass incursion followed a total of 38 PLA aircraft on Friday and 39 aircraft on Saturday, also a mix of fighters and electronic warfare and monitoring aircraft.
Chinese state media have said the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan is a sign that the Biden administration would not come to the aid of its unofficial ally. China has told Taiwanese leaders that the United States would abandon them in ways similar to the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, which fell to the Taliban militia in 11 days.
The increased air incursions are part of what Chinese state media called routine and normal military exercises aimed at deterring Taiwanese forces and “foreign interference,” the nationalist, state-controlled Global Times newspaper said. The record-breaking number of aircraft incursions also was a response to the dispatch of U.S. and allied aircraft carriers near the island.
The USS Ronald Reagan and USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike groups sailed near Taiwan on Sept. 27, according to news reports.
Menacing messaging
“Flying these high-risk sorties near Taiwan is just another way of dictating terms, contrary to all their commitments to resolve the Taiwan question peacefully through dialogue,” said David Stilwell, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. “This mode of messaging is especially dangerous because the people making these decisions in Beijing think in terrestrial terms. They think these actions are slow-moving and reversible.”
The danger of a conflict breaking out is greater when aircraft are used in messaging, he said. Unlike ships, planes are fragile. Even small collisions with intercepting Taiwanese aircraft could lead to disastrous outcomes.
“Intercepts are dicey things. Determining what constitutes a hostile act is never easy,” said Mr. Stilwell, a former Air Force F-16 pilot. “And flying armed combat aircraft at Taiwan, which is obligated to intercept inbound PLA aircraft with armed combat aircraft of its own, is downright reckless.”
Most of the earlier Chinese aerial incursions involved reconnaissance jets or bombers.
“Pointing combat aircraft with forward-firing ordnance at each other is a great way to send the wrong message,” Mr. Stilwell said.
Rick Fisher, a Chinese military affairs expert with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the communist regime in Beijing is in its fourth year of escalating military pressure to demoralize and coerce 23 million people in Taiwan.
“The Chinese Communist Party is using this crude military pressure as part of an orchestra of coercion, [one] that includes a massive insidious propaganda global political campaign to erase any recognition of a free Taiwan and the weaponization of its political, economic and cultural relations with Taiwan,” Mr. Fisher said.
The stepped-up flights also are designed to improve the PLA’s joint war-fighting operations and strategies.
Mr. Fisher said he thinks Beijing’s intimidation efforts will only increase.
“The PLA is barely getting started with its military coercion,” he said. “It should be expected that future exercises will include multiple aircraft carriers supporting simultaneous amphibious assaults, to include use of anti-ship ballistic missiles and perhaps anti-satellite demonstrations.”
The United States should consider a closer relationship with Taiwan to deter military aggression, Mr. Fisher said.
China’s leadership is “clearly preparing to wage war to destroy the democratic future chosen by the vast majority of Taiwanese,” Mr. Fisher said. “It is overdue for the United States to consider a new relationship with Taiwan that will allow for a revival of Taiwan-U.S. military cooperation sufficient to defeat and thus deter a Chinese invasion.”
A ‘declaration of sovereignty’
The Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party newspaper, said the aerial effort is “a clear and unmistakable declaration of China’s sovereignty over the island.”
The warplanes “were not a guard of honor,” the newspaper said.
“They are fighting forces aimed at actual combat,” the newspaper stated. “The warplanes that gathered over the [Taiwan Strait] were possibly dispatched from different airports, showing the strong ability of the PLA to form a wartime air attack.”
The mass air incursions amount to a major increase in the number of flights into the air defense zone.
Until last week, the PLA was conducting incursions on a near-daily basis using one or two aircraft.
“The PLA is forming a siege of Taiwan with a show of strength as it did in Beijing in 1949,” said the Global Times, referring to the civil war that ended with Chinese Nationalist Party forces ousted from the mainland and taking refuge on Taiwan.
Retired Gen. H.R. McMaster, for a time President Trump’s national security adviser, warned Monday that the U.S. and its allies are entering a “very dangerous time” in their relations with China.
In a roundtable with reporters hosted by the Hudson Institute, Mr. McMaster said the flights align with China’s long-standing campaign of coercion against Taiwan, but he would not rule out the advent of a more belligerent approach.
“I wouldn’t discount it,” he said. “I think that it’s really important for the United States, for Japan, the free world, the European Union to make clear to China that this kind of aggression is unacceptable.”
He said Chinese President Xi Jinping has become emboldened after sustaining few international consequences over his aggressive clampdown in Hong Kong and other internal places.
Mr. Price, the State Department spokesman, said the United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.
“We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability,” he said, noting the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which calls for selling defensive arms to Taiwan and U.S.-Chinese communiques and agreements.
“The U.S. commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region,” Mr. Price said. “We will continue to stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security and values and deepen our ties with democratic Taiwan.”
• Joseph Clark contributed to this report.
China sharply escalates warplane provocations near Taiwan - Washington Times
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Mounting tensions between U.S., China raise new fears of threat to Taiwan
Chinese military flights near Taiwan are nothing new, yet the size and frequency of the sorties have grown.
An F/A-18E Super Hornet lands on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea. | Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samantha Jetzer/U.S. Navy via AP
By LARA SELIGMAN and PAUL MCLEARY
10/05/2021 02:03 PM EDT
Tensions are mounting once more between Beijing and Washington, as China pushes a record-breaking number of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The friction has raised renewed fears of the Chinese threat to Taiwan and its potential to draw in the West, particularly at a time when the United States and the United Kingdom are operating three aircraft carriers along with their destroyer escorts nearby in the Philippine Sea.
While a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is not imminent, experts say China is playing the long game and is likely to continue upping the pressure on the self-governing island whose disputed political status has long been a fraught subject.
“We should think of China’s approach to Taiwan not as a bifurcated decision between war and peace but instead a continuous pressure campaign that can take various lethal and non-lethal forms,” said Eric Sayers, an expert in Asia-Pacific security policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Beijing can turn this pressure up or down as it chooses, but it is always occurring in a sustained manner towards the goal of reunification.”
Three years after former President Donald Trump launched his trade war with China, indications are that President Joe Biden’s administration is continuing his confrontational approach to the bilateral relationship, while rallying Western and regional allies around calling out Beijing for its flouting of international norms.
The recent events come on the heels of a historic security pact between the U.S., U.K. and Australia to provide Canberra with the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines, a deal seen as an effort to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
And in September, the leaders of the four nations that make up the informal “Quad” grouping — the U.S., Japan, India and Australia — reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is “undaunted by coercion,” a careful statement aimed indirectly at Beijing.
“[T]hings are going badly for Beijing at the political level,” said Elbridge Colby, a former Trump Pentagon official who is now a principal at the think tank the Marathon Initiative. “Instead they might decide to just use their increasing military capability.”
The flights into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone increased from 38 a day on Friday to 52 on Monday.
Chinese flights into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone increased from 38 a day on Friday to 52 on Monday. | Jin Danhua/Xinhua via AP
The four-day barrage of sorties by fighter planes, bombers and surveillance planes could be primarily meant for domestic consumption, as they started on China’s National Day of Oct. 1. Taiwan’s own National Day is on Oct. 10.
“This is absolutely a wonderful opportunity to remind Taiwan of its proper place in the world, in Beijing's view,” said Dean Cheng, an expert on Chinese military capabilities at the Heritage Foundation. He noted that flying dozens of planes a day near the island forces the much smaller Taiwanese air force to respond.
www.politico.com
Chinese military flights near Taiwan are nothing new, yet the size and frequency of the sorties have grown.
An F/A-18E Super Hornet lands on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea. | Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samantha Jetzer/U.S. Navy via AP
By LARA SELIGMAN and PAUL MCLEARY
10/05/2021 02:03 PM EDT
Tensions are mounting once more between Beijing and Washington, as China pushes a record-breaking number of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The friction has raised renewed fears of the Chinese threat to Taiwan and its potential to draw in the West, particularly at a time when the United States and the United Kingdom are operating three aircraft carriers along with their destroyer escorts nearby in the Philippine Sea.
While a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is not imminent, experts say China is playing the long game and is likely to continue upping the pressure on the self-governing island whose disputed political status has long been a fraught subject.
“We should think of China’s approach to Taiwan not as a bifurcated decision between war and peace but instead a continuous pressure campaign that can take various lethal and non-lethal forms,” said Eric Sayers, an expert in Asia-Pacific security policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Beijing can turn this pressure up or down as it chooses, but it is always occurring in a sustained manner towards the goal of reunification.”
Three years after former President Donald Trump launched his trade war with China, indications are that President Joe Biden’s administration is continuing his confrontational approach to the bilateral relationship, while rallying Western and regional allies around calling out Beijing for its flouting of international norms.
The recent events come on the heels of a historic security pact between the U.S., U.K. and Australia to provide Canberra with the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines, a deal seen as an effort to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
And in September, the leaders of the four nations that make up the informal “Quad” grouping — the U.S., Japan, India and Australia — reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is “undaunted by coercion,” a careful statement aimed indirectly at Beijing.
“[T]hings are going badly for Beijing at the political level,” said Elbridge Colby, a former Trump Pentagon official who is now a principal at the think tank the Marathon Initiative. “Instead they might decide to just use their increasing military capability.”
The flights into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone increased from 38 a day on Friday to 52 on Monday.
Chinese flights into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone increased from 38 a day on Friday to 52 on Monday. | Jin Danhua/Xinhua via AP
The four-day barrage of sorties by fighter planes, bombers and surveillance planes could be primarily meant for domestic consumption, as they started on China’s National Day of Oct. 1. Taiwan’s own National Day is on Oct. 10.
“This is absolutely a wonderful opportunity to remind Taiwan of its proper place in the world, in Beijing's view,” said Dean Cheng, an expert on Chinese military capabilities at the Heritage Foundation. He noted that flying dozens of planes a day near the island forces the much smaller Taiwanese air force to respond.
Mounting tensions between U.S., China raise new fears of threat to Taiwan
Chinese military flights near Taiwan are nothing new, yet the size and frequency of the sorties have grown.
www.politico.com
danielboon
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Jake Sullivan to meet top Chinese diplomat as Taiwan tensions soar
Zachary Basu
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Zurich, Switzerland, this week to meet China's top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi, according to a National Security Council spokesperson.
Why it matters: It will be the most senior-level, in-person meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials since Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met their counterparts in Alaska in March, where a post-summit press conference devolved into a verbal sparring match.
Driving the news: The meeting comes days after the State Department condemned the Chinese military's record number of incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
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Zachary Basu
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Zurich, Switzerland, this week to meet China's top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi, according to a National Security Council spokesperson.
Why it matters: It will be the most senior-level, in-person meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials since Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met their counterparts in Alaska in March, where a post-summit press conference devolved into a verbal sparring match.
Driving the news: The meeting comes days after the State Department condemned the Chinese military's record number of incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
- It will be the first in-person meeting since the U.S. announced a new Indo-Pacific security partnership with the U.K. and Australia, aggravating China.
- The Biden administration also announced this week that China is not meeting its commitments under the Phase One trade deal and that it will keep Trump-era tariffs in place as the U.S. re-engages Beijing in trade talks.
- One possible item on the agenda for Sullivan's talks with Yang could be a virtual summit between Biden and Xi.
- Xi has not left China since the start of the pandemic, making an in-person meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome later this month unlikely.
Jake Sullivan to meet top Chinese diplomat as tensions soar over Taiwan, trade and AUKUS
It comes days after China flew a record number of jets near Taiwan.
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China Warships Shadow U.S. and Allied Naval Groups in South China Sea
BY JOHN FENG ON 10/5/21 AT 11:57 AM EDT
China appears to have deployed military vessels to shadow American and British aircraft carrier formations in the South China Sea ahead of an intensive six-nation exercise, analysis of satellite imagery revealed on Tuesday.
An image shared by Ho Chi Minh-based maritime observer Duan Dang showed elements of the U.S. Navy's Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group off the west coast of the Philippines on October 5.
The U.K. flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth was west of the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the Philippines, while USS Carl Vinson was operating north of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by Manila but administered by Beijing, said Duan, who is the author of the newsletter South China Sea Brief.
Monitoring both carrier groups at a distance were "unidentified" warships, his satellite photo showed. The vessels likely belong to the People's Liberation Army Navy's South Sea Fleet, which operates in the South China Sea.
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The Vietnamese observer noted upcoming maritime exercises in the next two weeks. The U.K.'s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that HMS Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to train with friendly ships and aircraft from the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. PLA Navy warships are expected to monitor the exercises throughout.
Before arriving in the South China Sea on Monday, U.S. and allied naval groups wrapped up two days of interoperability exercises in the western Pacific, in the seas east of Taiwan and southwest of Japan's Okinawa. Beijing appeared to perceive the drills as a challenge; it responded by flying dozens of military jets and nuclear-capable bombers near southwestern Taiwan.
Images shared by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) showed the addition of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group among vessels from six nations taking part in the weekend's exercises, including the U.S., Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands. It was the last action involving HNLMS Evertsen of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which is on its way back to home port.
On Tuesday, the JMSDF revealed a particular interoperability milestone reached on Sunday when it shared images of U.S. Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighters landing on and launching from Japanese helicopter carrier JS Izumo—the first fixed-wing aircraft to operate on a Japanese carrier since World War II.
1 of 4
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 operates aboard the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier JS Izumo in the western Pacific on October 3, 2021.JAPAN SELF-DEFENSE FLEET
As the American and British carrier groups sailed into the South China Sea via the waters south of Taiwan on Monday, Chinese military flights in the Bashi Channel continued in alarming numbers, with 56 aircraft crossing into Taiwan's air defense identification zone by midnight.
In his newsletter published on Tuesday, Duan remarked: "In my opinion, the surge of military aircraft may signify how much Beijing had been irritated over the recent gathering of U.S. and U.K. carrier strike groups near Taiwan."
Duan said a similar response could be expected every time a U.S. aircraft carrier transits the Bashi Channel, which sits at the intersection between the western Pacific, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
www.newsweek.com
BY JOHN FENG ON 10/5/21 AT 11:57 AM EDT
China appears to have deployed military vessels to shadow American and British aircraft carrier formations in the South China Sea ahead of an intensive six-nation exercise, analysis of satellite imagery revealed on Tuesday.
An image shared by Ho Chi Minh-based maritime observer Duan Dang showed elements of the U.S. Navy's Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group off the west coast of the Philippines on October 5.
The U.K. flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth was west of the Luzon Strait, which separates Taiwan and the Philippines, while USS Carl Vinson was operating north of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by Manila but administered by Beijing, said Duan, who is the author of the newsletter South China Sea Brief.
Monitoring both carrier groups at a distance were "unidentified" warships, his satellite photo showed. The vessels likely belong to the People's Liberation Army Navy's South Sea Fleet, which operates in the South China Sea.
NEWSWEEK NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP >
View: https://twitter.com/duandang/status/1445312639886708741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1445312639886708741%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%
The Vietnamese observer noted upcoming maritime exercises in the next two weeks. The U.K.'s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that HMS Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to train with friendly ships and aircraft from the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. PLA Navy warships are expected to monitor the exercises throughout.
Before arriving in the South China Sea on Monday, U.S. and allied naval groups wrapped up two days of interoperability exercises in the western Pacific, in the seas east of Taiwan and southwest of Japan's Okinawa. Beijing appeared to perceive the drills as a challenge; it responded by flying dozens of military jets and nuclear-capable bombers near southwestern Taiwan.
Images shared by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) showed the addition of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group among vessels from six nations taking part in the weekend's exercises, including the U.S., Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands. It was the last action involving HNLMS Evertsen of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which is on its way back to home port.
On Tuesday, the JMSDF revealed a particular interoperability milestone reached on Sunday when it shared images of U.S. Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighters landing on and launching from Japanese helicopter carrier JS Izumo—the first fixed-wing aircraft to operate on a Japanese carrier since World War II.
1 of 4
As the American and British carrier groups sailed into the South China Sea via the waters south of Taiwan on Monday, Chinese military flights in the Bashi Channel continued in alarming numbers, with 56 aircraft crossing into Taiwan's air defense identification zone by midnight.
In his newsletter published on Tuesday, Duan remarked: "In my opinion, the surge of military aircraft may signify how much Beijing had been irritated over the recent gathering of U.S. and U.K. carrier strike groups near Taiwan."
Duan said a similar response could be expected every time a U.S. aircraft carrier transits the Bashi Channel, which sits at the intersection between the western Pacific, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
China Warships Shadow U.S. and Allied Naval Groups in South China Sea
Analysis of satellite imagery showed what appeared to be Chinese warships monitoring American and British carrier groups in the South China Sea.
www.newsweek.com
vector7
Dot Collector
Taiwan stuff heating up more than people realize
This isn't just posturing
There are top Chinese generals telling Xi they want the green light
View: https://twitter.com/davidkjenkins/status/1445540674569314309?s=20
This isn't just posturing
There are top Chinese generals telling Xi they want the green light
View: https://twitter.com/davidkjenkins/status/1445540674569314309?s=20
jward
passin' thru
Status-6
@Archer83Able
US President Biden says he's spoken with China's Xi Jinping about Taiwan and they've both agreed to abide by 'Taiwan agreement' (status quo?).
7:02 PM · Oct 5, 2021·Twitter for Android
Old Greek
Veteran Member
Translation - Biden agreed - Xi lied !
Status-6
@Archer83Able
US President Biden says he's spoken with China's Xi Jinping about Taiwan and they've both agreed to abide by 'Taiwan agreement' (status quo?).
7:02 PM · Oct 5, 2021·Twitter for Android
jward
passin' thru
Apex
@Apex_WW
Update #Taiwan/#China.. “China has been threatening Taiwan, and the threat seems to be more serious than before,” Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said. “We are very concerned that China is going to launch a war against Taiwan at some point.”
Taiwan says it’s preparing to defend itself after 149 Chinese warplanes entered its airspace
by
Matthew M. Burke and Mari Higa
• Stars and Stripes • October 5, 2021
Dozens of Chinese Shenyang J-16 fighters, like the one in this file photo, entered Taiwan's air defense zone over a four-day period starting Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. (Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Taiwan says it is preparing to defend itself from its neighbor to the west after four days of record-breaking Chinese incursions into its airspace.
The comments were made Monday by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Television program “China Tonight.” Nearly 150 Chinese military aircraft buzzed through Taiwan’s air defense zone between Friday and Monday, the island’s Ministry of National Defense said in a series of press statements.
“China has been threatening Taiwan, and the threat seems to be more serious than before,” Wu said. “We are very concerned that China is going to launch a war against Taiwan at some point.”
Beijing considers Taiwan, which has its own democratic government, a renegade province that must, at some point, be unified politically with the mainland.
The threat may not be imminent, Wu added, but the island is preparing to defend itself nonetheless. Taipei is carefully monitoring domestic discontent in China and any signs of an economic slowdown that could be used as a precursor for invasion, he said.
“Taiwan might become a target of this authoritarianism to divert its domestic attention,” Wu said.
On Monday, 56 Chinese army aircraft, including dozens of fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense zone, the Taiwanese defense ministry wrote in a statement that evening. They traveled southeast off the island’s southwest coast before turning around and heading back toward China. Four of the flights happened at night.
This followed 16 similar sorties on Sunday, 39 on Saturday and 38 on Friday, the ministry said in previous statements.
In response, Taiwan dispatched air patrols, issued radio warnings and readied air defense missile systems.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council strongly protested the incursions and demanded that they stop, Bloomberg news reported Tuesday.
The sorties coincided with China’s National Day celebrations that mark the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
The Biden administration is watching the situation “very closely,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during her daily press conference Monday.
“We remain concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability,” she said. “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan, and we have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
Psaki said the U.S. would continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining its ability to defend itself.
Beijing was quick to fire back with a response from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
“Taiwan belongs to China and the US is in no position to make irresponsible remarks,” she said in a statement. “For quite some time, the US has been making negative moves by selling arms to Taiwan and strengthening official and military ties, including the launch of a $750 million arms sale plan to Taiwan, the landing of US military aircraft in Taiwan and frequent sailing of US warships across the Taiwan Strait.”
China vowed to “resolutely crush” any move toward independence for Taiwan, Hua said. She chided the U.S. to “correct its mistakes” and stop “supporting and emboldening separatist forces.”
www.stripes.com
@Apex_WW
Update #Taiwan/#China.. “China has been threatening Taiwan, and the threat seems to be more serious than before,” Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said. “We are very concerned that China is going to launch a war against Taiwan at some point.”
Taiwan says it’s preparing to defend itself after 149 Chinese warplanes entered its airspace
by
Matthew M. Burke and Mari Higa
• Stars and Stripes • October 5, 2021
Dozens of Chinese Shenyang J-16 fighters, like the one in this file photo, entered Taiwan's air defense zone over a four-day period starting Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. (Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Taiwan says it is preparing to defend itself from its neighbor to the west after four days of record-breaking Chinese incursions into its airspace.
The comments were made Monday by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Television program “China Tonight.” Nearly 150 Chinese military aircraft buzzed through Taiwan’s air defense zone between Friday and Monday, the island’s Ministry of National Defense said in a series of press statements.
“China has been threatening Taiwan, and the threat seems to be more serious than before,” Wu said. “We are very concerned that China is going to launch a war against Taiwan at some point.”
Beijing considers Taiwan, which has its own democratic government, a renegade province that must, at some point, be unified politically with the mainland.
The threat may not be imminent, Wu added, but the island is preparing to defend itself nonetheless. Taipei is carefully monitoring domestic discontent in China and any signs of an economic slowdown that could be used as a precursor for invasion, he said.
“Taiwan might become a target of this authoritarianism to divert its domestic attention,” Wu said.
On Monday, 56 Chinese army aircraft, including dozens of fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense zone, the Taiwanese defense ministry wrote in a statement that evening. They traveled southeast off the island’s southwest coast before turning around and heading back toward China. Four of the flights happened at night.
This followed 16 similar sorties on Sunday, 39 on Saturday and 38 on Friday, the ministry said in previous statements.
In response, Taiwan dispatched air patrols, issued radio warnings and readied air defense missile systems.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council strongly protested the incursions and demanded that they stop, Bloomberg news reported Tuesday.
The sorties coincided with China’s National Day celebrations that mark the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
The Biden administration is watching the situation “very closely,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during her daily press conference Monday.
“We remain concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability,” she said. “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan, and we have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
Psaki said the U.S. would continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining its ability to defend itself.
Beijing was quick to fire back with a response from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
“Taiwan belongs to China and the US is in no position to make irresponsible remarks,” she said in a statement. “For quite some time, the US has been making negative moves by selling arms to Taiwan and strengthening official and military ties, including the launch of a $750 million arms sale plan to Taiwan, the landing of US military aircraft in Taiwan and frequent sailing of US warships across the Taiwan Strait.”
China vowed to “resolutely crush” any move toward independence for Taiwan, Hua said. She chided the U.S. to “correct its mistakes” and stop “supporting and emboldening separatist forces.”
Taiwan says it’s preparing to defend itself after 149 Chinese warplanes entered its airspace
Nearly 150 Chinese military aircraft buzzed through Taiwan’s air defense zone between Friday and Monday, the island’s Ministry of National Defense said.
jward
passin' thru
World news
·
This afternoon
Diplomats from China and the US to meet amid Taiwan tensions
President Biden’s top security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will hold talks in Switzerland with China’s leading diplomat, Yang Jiechi, according to a South China Morning Post story reported by Reuters and Bloomberg. The pair will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday at a time of rising tension after Chinese aircraft entered Taiwanese airspace on multiple occasions. On October 4, Taiwan's defense ministry reported that a record 56 Chinese aircraft entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ), including 52 planes during the day and an additional four on Monday night. The incursions of Chinese aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ has been increasing, with the previous daily record set on both Friday and then Saturday, with 38 and 39 aircraft reported, respectively, according to Reuters and CNN.
Photo via @ReutersWorld
·
This afternoon
Diplomats from China and the US to meet amid Taiwan tensions
President Biden’s top security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will hold talks in Switzerland with China’s leading diplomat, Yang Jiechi, according to a South China Morning Post story reported by Reuters and Bloomberg. The pair will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday at a time of rising tension after Chinese aircraft entered Taiwanese airspace on multiple occasions. On October 4, Taiwan's defense ministry reported that a record 56 Chinese aircraft entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ), including 52 planes during the day and an additional four on Monday night. The incursions of Chinese aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ has been increasing, with the previous daily record set on both Friday and then Saturday, with 38 and 39 aircraft reported, respectively, according to Reuters and CNN.
Photo via @ReutersWorld
vector7
Dot Collector
BREAKING: US Marines fly F-35s off Japanese aircraft carrier
The first time fighter aircraft have flown off a Japanese carrier since 1945
BREAKING: US Marines fly F-35s off Japanese aircraft carrier The first time fighter aircraft have flown off a Japanese carrier since 1945
RT 2min
View: https://twitter.com/Orwellstruth/status/1445558482028036100?s=20
The first time fighter aircraft have flown off a Japanese carrier since 1945
BREAKING: US Marines fly F-35s off Japanese aircraft carrier The first time fighter aircraft have flown off a Japanese carrier since 1945
RT 2min
View: https://twitter.com/Orwellstruth/status/1445558482028036100?s=20
jward
passin' thru
Some armchair pundents remind us that China will want to wait till after the Olympics- :: shrug ::
Apex
@Apex_WW
Update - RTRS: #Taiwan defense minister says #China will have ability to mount full scale invasion by 2025
8:53 PM · Oct 5, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
Apex
@Apex_WW
Update - RTRS: #Taiwan defense minister says #China will have ability to mount full scale invasion by 2025
8:53 PM · Oct 5, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
northern watch
TB Fanatic
These pundits forget the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008 during Summer Olympics in China August 2008
northern watch
TB Fanatic
The PLA are now doing night operations!
jward
passin' thru
Chad O'Carroll
@chadocl
2m
North Korean vessel equipped with anti-aircraft missile spotted near Japanese fishing waters, according to NHK:
@chadocl
2m
North Korean vessel equipped with anti-aircraft missile spotted near Japanese fishing waters, according to NHK: