China expands its military drills in the Bohai and Yellow seas, escalating military tensions with Taiwan following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the self-governing island nation.
Beijing officials announced additional live-fire drills in the two areas as they broadcast the country's fury over the U.S. trip to Taiwan with military exercises. China's Defense Ministry did not reveal the purpose of the expanded exercises, which came as Pelosi's visit frayed U.S.-China relations.
China Expands Military Exercises
The drills are China's greatest show of force near Taiwan territory since the last cross-strait crisis of 1995 to 1996 in what it calls a warning to "provocateurs" who challenge Beijing's claims over the island nation that is home to roughly 23 million people.
On Saturday, China's Maritime Safety Administration announced five exclusion zones in the Yellow Sea where exercises would take place from Aug. 5 to Aug. 15. They also announced an additional four zones in the Bohai Sea where unspecified Chinese operations would take place for a month beginning on Monday, as per the Washington Post.
While China officially seeks what it considers a "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan, it also consistently threatens to take the island by force if the Taipei government declares formal independence.
The diplomatic fallout that resulted from Pelosi's visit to the island nation escalated sharply on Friday when Beijing imposed sanctions on her and her immediate family. China also canceled military dialogues and suspended climate talks and other bilateral cooperation on issues including transnational crime.
According to CNBC, warships from both China and Taiwan played high seas "cat and mouse" on Sunday ahead of the scheduled end of four days of unprecedented Chinese military exercises. About 10 warships each from the two nations sailed at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line.
Taiwan's Independence
Taiwan's defense ministry said that multiple of Beijing's military ships, aircraft, and drones were simulating attacks on the island and its navy. Taiwanese officials also said that they deployed aircraft and ships of their own to react "appropriately."
On Sunday, the ministry released a statement saying it had detected 14 Chinese warships and 66 Chinese aircraft in and around the Taiwan Strait. While Chinese forces "pressed" the line, Taiwan's troops stayed close to monitor and, where possible, deny the Chinese the ability to cross.
A person with knowledge of the situation who wished to remain anonymous said that the two sides were showing restraint. They described the maneuvers on the high seas as similar to playing "cat and mouse."
Furthermore, two Chinese drones flew around Okinawa prefecture in Japan on Thursday, which prompted the latter's Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets in response. The military movement comes as China doubles down on rhetoric blaming the U.S. for spiking tensions and forcing it into a response.
In a statement, Taiwan's Premier Su Tseng-chang said that the island nation represented "freedom and democracy" and that "the evil neighbor next door flexed its muscles on our doorstep and arbitrarily sabotaged (one of) the busiest waterways in the world with military exercises," CNN reported.
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