Taiwan, China simulates attack to take over the island. USA moves warship

Tensions are rising between the United States and China over the island of Taiwan, which “reunification” as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has set as a goal for Beijing. The Chinese military sent several dozen warplanes and 11 warships to Taiwan in a show of force following its president’s trip to the United States. This was reported by the Taipei Ministry of Defense. The Chinese military previously announced three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own. The moves follow President Tsai Ing-wen’s sensitive diplomatic mission to strengthen Taiwan’s alliances in Central America and boost US support, a trip that culminated in a sensitive meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. . A US congressional delegation also met with Tsai over the weekend in Taiwan after his return.

Something more than an exercise. “Simulated attacks near Taiwan by Chinese aircraft carrying live ammunition”, explains the Chinese government that the aircraft carrier Shandong was mobilized. “Multiple batches of H-6K fighters with live ammunition carried out several waves of simulated attacks on key targets on the island of Taiwan,” the Chinese Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement, adding that Shandong also “participated in today’s exercise”. .

Also raising tensions was a gesture by the Americans to the US Navy, which declared that its guided-missile destroyer USS Milius had crossed into Beijing’s claimed waters in the South China Sea today in a “freedom of navigation” operation. An operation that “respected the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea”, added the Navy in a statement, adding that the vessel passed close to the Spratly Islands. Operation that Beijing defined as an “illegal” intrusion: “The missile destroyer USS Milius illegally entered the waters adjacent to the Meiji Reef in the Chinese islands of Nansha, without the approval of the Chinese government,” said an army spokesman, adding that the Beijing Air Force “followed and guarded the vessel”.

Source: IL Tempo

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