A record number of Chinese military aircraft made an appearance in Taiwan’s airspace, signaling the CCP wants to continue its pressure on the self-ruled country, even now that tensions have let up somewhat.
The swarm of fighter jets and drones that remained above Taiwan for almost 24 hours are believed to be China’s demonstration of its military prowess and appetite for confrontation with both the US and Taiwan.
Chinese military activity may pose a threat to US, Taiwan
To no surprise, the activity came only a few days after Joe Biden announced an expansion of the US support for the island.
◾China is preparing its army for war in 2027. This was stated by the head of the CIA, William Burns, in an interview with PBS.
◾“The likelihood of conflict over Taiwan will increase this decade. Xi Jinping has never given up on the use of violence – he instructed his defense pic.twitter.com/gfxKHOxYZ5
— Vladimir Putin 🇳🇬🇷🇺😍 (@rabiusambo7) December 17, 2022
In response, Beijing denounced his actions as an attempt to destabilize China and intervene in their domestic affairs.
Tensions in Taiwan have been on the rise ever since Nancy Pelosi visited the island country back in August, prompting an increased amount of live-fire drills by Beijing in the following days.
The Eastern Theater Command’s spokesman, Senior Colonel Shi Yi claimed the latest activity was a response to the collusion and provocations by the US and Taiwan.
One of Taipei’s leading security analysts, Su Tzu-Yun, announced this pattern is likely to continue, mainly due to Biden’s signing of the military policy bill.
This year alone, US lawmakers approved massive funding for Ukraine in their conflict with Russia and another $10 billion for Taiwan over the next five years.
🇺🇸🇨🇳🇹🇼The United States is concerned by China's military activity near Taiwan, which it called "provocative" and "destabilizing,"- White House
— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) December 26, 2022
A neverending conflict
This sort of behavior isn’t exactly new for China; they’ve terrorized the island country for years on end, attempting to wear down their resolve against an offensive strike.
Chinese officials state that American presidents, one after another, have leaned towards Taiwan, whereas the American narrative is that China destabilized relations through its rhetoric.
The latest exercise is worth mentioning solely for the fact that it broke a single-day record, both for the amount of aircraft deployed and the number of them that crossed the informal boundary between the two countries.
Out of the 71 aircraft that were present in Taiwan’s airspace, 47 crossed the boundary, which is an extremely provocative move from the Chinese military.
China carries out military exercises near Taiwan and Japan, sending 47 aircraft across Taiwan Strait in ‘strike drill’ pic.twitter.com/GZw2gXmuIB
— Kyle White (@KyleWhiteGOAT) December 26, 2022
Taiwan recently made a push to strengthen its own military, largely due to concerns with its undertrained staff and the urgent situation that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen has announced a press conference this week on Tuesday, where she’ll outline the plan to extend the military conscription period from four months to a full year.
Pentagon’s latest report about Chinese forces claims that Xi Jinping’s attempt to retake Taiwan could bring devastating repercussions for China, despite their visible strength.
The report explains that mass-scale amphibious invasion is still one of the most complicated and risky military operations and the potential setbacks it brings could pose a major risk for both Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party.
This article appeared in The Record Daily and has been published here with permission.
