Making their debut in the general public for the first time, DF-17 missiles join the National Day parade held in Beijing on October 1, 2019. Photo: Fan Lingzhi/GT
By Liu Xuanzun
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Tuesday started to commence joint military exercises surrounding the island of Taiwan, featuring J-20 stealth fighter jets and test firing of conventional missiles that analysts said could fly over the island, right after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the island, with additional important drills announced for days to come.
The drills, likely to be larger in scale than the one in the 1996 crisis, serve not only as warnings to the US and “Taiwan independence” secessionists, but also as rehearsals for the PLA to reunify the island by force, experts said.
Immediately after Pelosi’s plane landed in Taipei on Tuesday evening, the PLA Eastern Theater Command announced it will start a series of joint military operations around the island of Taiwan starting Tuesday evening.
Joint maritime and air exercises will be held in sea and air spaces to the north, southwest and southeast of the island of Taiwan, long-range live-fire shooting will be held in the Taiwan Straits, and conventional missile test launches will be held to the east of the island of Taiwan, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson at the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement on Tuesday.
This means the island of Taiwan will be surrounded by PLA drills in five directions.
The joint maritime and air exercises in the north, southwest and southeast will likely hone the capabilities of warplanes and warships to seize air superiority and control of the sea; the long-range live-fire shooting in the Taiwan Straits will likely feature long-range multiple rocket launchers that can strike targets on Taiwan island directly from the mainland; the conventional missile test launches to the east of the island means that, if the missiles were launched from the mainland, they would fly over the island of Taiwan, analysts said.
It is also possible that the missiles will be launched from the PLA Navy vessels that are sailing to the east of the island, said military experts, noting that the move will target the external forces that try to intervene in the reunification process from the east.
The operation is a stern deterrence against the US’ recent provocations on the Taiwan question, as well as a serious warning for “Taiwan independence” secessionists’ attempt to seek “independence,” Shi said.
Hours after the statement was issued, a video released by China Central Television showed J-20 stealth fighter jets participated in the drills. They took off from an airfield on Tuesday evening, with launchers of rockets and missiles also mobilizing under shades of the night.
Gu Zhong, deputy chief of staff of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said that the drills involve courses like joint blockade, sea assault, land attack and air superiority seizing plus live-fire shooting of precision weapons.
The drills will comprehensively test the performance of weapons and equipment as well as the troops’ joint operational capabilities, making preparations for all crises, Gu said.
The troops of the PLA Eastern Theater Command are fully confident and capable of fighting back at any provocation and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Gu said.
Just as Pelosi’s flight was about to land, Chinese state media reported that a Su-35 fighter jet(s) of the PLA Air Force was flying across the Taiwan Straits. Observers said that the PLA aircraft’s activity could be part of the drills.
Earlier, the Xinhua News Agency released a notice announcing that the PLA will conduct important military exercises and training activities including live-fire drills in six large maritime areas and their air space surrounding the island of Taiwan, in its north, northeast, east, south, southwest and northwest, from Thursday noon to Sunday noon.
For safety reasons, entering of vessels and aircraft to those sea and air space is prohibited, Xinhua reported.
The report did not give more details on the drills, but experts said that more realistic combat-oriented training courses like the drills that started on Tuesday are expected, including those featuring aircraft carriers.
The PLA Navy’s aircraft carrier Liaoning on Sunday embarked on a voyage from its homeport in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province, and the aircraft carrier Shandong on Monday set out from its homeport in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province, accompanied by a Type 075 amphibious assault ship, media on the island of Taiwan reported on Tuesday.
A report by China Central Television on Saturday revealed for the first time a scene in which what seems to be a DF-17 hypersonic missile was fired. The missile, despite its hypersonic characteristics, is a conventional weapon.
Analysts said that the drills could be greater than the one held in the Taiwan Straits crisis in 1996.
The drills aim to enhance combat preparedness over the Taiwan question, Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Global Times
