Pictures released by the Chinese military on Monday showed fighter jets said to be in eastern Taiwan
Tensions between China and the United States increased with Beijing carrying out military maneuvers that included simulating the “encirclement” of Taiwan.
China has condemned the US warship’s “illegal” violation of an area in the South China Sea claimed by Beijing.
On Monday, the United States sent the USS Milius, a guided-missile destroyer, through the South China Sea, about 1,300 kilometers south of Taiwan.
Washington said the ship was sailing within the framework of freedom of maritime navigation through international waters.
But Tian Junli, a spokesman for the Chinese army’s Southern Area Command, said in a statement that the destroyer “illegally entered the waters adjacent to the Meiji Reef in China’s Nansha Islands without the approval of the Chinese government.”
He added that the Chinese air force “followed it up and carried out surveillance operations on the ship.”
image copyright Reuters
A Chinese warship fires towards the shore during a military exercise near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands
On the last day of Chinese military maneuvers, Taiwan said it had spotted planes flying in the eastern regions, while Beijing spoke about the participation of its aircraft carrier, “Shandong”.
Beijing began the exercise on Saturday after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States and met with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives in California.
However, the exercises are not large compared to those carried out last August.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state with its own constitution, while China views it as a breakaway island that will return to Beijing’s control – if necessary, by force.
On Monday, Taiwan said it had detected 70 warplanes and 11 other ships in the waters around it.
A map of flight paths released by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry showed four J-15 fighter jets flying in the east of the island, indicating that the Chinese military is simulating for the first time carrying out strikes from the east rather than the west of mainland China.
Experts said it was likely that the planes took off from the Chinese aircraft carrier “Shandong”, one of two Chinese aircraft carriers of this type, which are currently deployed in the western Pacific Ocean, about 320 km from Taiwan.
The Chinese military confirmed in a statement that the Shandong carrier “participated” in the exercises on Monday, and said that combat aircraft equipped with live ammunition “carried out multiple waves of strikes that simulate important targets.”
Washington has repeatedly called on China to exercise restraint following Taiwanese President Tsai’s meeting with Kevin McCarthy, the third most senior US government figure. Meanwhile, Beijing had warned the United States and Taiwan to take “firm countermeasures” if they met with Tsai McCarthy.
China announced the exercises after the departure of prominent foreign leaders it was hosting, including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Macron later urged Europe not to be drawn into a confrontation between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan, in remarks that drew some criticism.
During his visit to China, he said during a press conference that Europe risks “getting involved in crises that are not ours” and that this will make it difficult to build “strategic autonomy.”
The exercises began on Saturday after Tsai returned from her 10-day trip to the United States and Central America.
China had started four days of unprecedented military exercises, following Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August, when she was Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and the exercises witnessed Beijing launching ballistic missiles in the waters surrounding Taiwan, and Pelosi was the most prominent US official. He has been visiting Taiwan since the 1990s.
However, some experts say that such military exercises may wane over time.
Mystery has shrouded Taiwan’s status since 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party’s civil war ended and the country’s old rulers retreated to the island.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said that “reunification must take place” with Taiwan.
