More than ever before: China fighter jets penetrate Taiwan's air defense zone
Created: 2022-12-27 04:48
By: Maximilian Kettenbach
China has held a large-scale military exercise with over 70 fighter jets near Taiwan.
(Archive photo) © Li Bingyu/dpa
China is again increasing the pressure on Taiwan and flying over the center line of the Taiwan Strait with almost 50 military aircraft.
Taipei - China's provocations do not stop - on the contrary, they are now intensifying again.
According to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, 71 Chinese military aircraft and seven warships were located near the island republic of Taiwan within 24 hours by 6 a.m. Monday morning.
47 aircraft crossed the center line of the Taiwan Strait, the air traffic control zone.
Among the fighter jets were six SU-30 fighter jets, which are among the most modern in China.
The strait separates Taiwan from mainland China.
Incidents like this have been increasing for two years - and continue to increase.
China's Communist Party announced on Sunday that it had held military maneuvers in the region.
Exercises have been held in the sea and airspace near Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army Eastern Command said.
It is a "firm response" to "the current escalation and provocation" by the United States and Taiwan.
The US Congress passed the government's new budget on Friday, which also includes new loans for Taiwan to buy weapons.
China's Taiwan provocations - that's behind it
The Chinese leadership regards Taiwan as part of the People's Republic and threatens to conquer it.
China has been provoking Taiwan with such maneuvers for months.
However, tensions intensified again after the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in August.
Beijing then launched large-scale military maneuvers and is maintaining military pressure with increased deployments of warships and aircraft in the Taiwan Straits.
In his October 2022 party speech, President Xi Jinping declared "reunification" with Taiwan a "historic task and an unwavering commitment".
Stressing that the Taiwan issue is best resolved through peaceful means, he also said, "We will never promise to refrain from the use of force, and we reserve the opportunity to take any measures necessary."
Alarming Xi speech on Taiwan - is China's timetable for an invasion already set?
Shieh Jhy-Wey, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Germany, saw this as a warning sign.
Xi's threat "must not be taken lightly by the world of freedom in view of the Russian invasion war against Ukraine," he told
IPPEN.MEDIA's Munich-based Merkur
.
The diplomat described Xi's threat as the "language of dictators": "Such a formulation is intended to suggest that it is their right to use force or not.
And that needs to be both exposed and denied.”
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One sentence in Xi's speech in particular made experts sit up and take notice: According to Xi, the solution to the Taiwan question is "a joint endeavor of all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation and a natural prerequisite for the realization of the Chinese nation's revival." China's is one of Xi's favorite propaganda terms -- the word was used 21 times in the weekend's party speech alone.
Behind this is the desire to restore China to its former glory and give the country the place in the world that Xi says it deserves.
And there is a deadline by which this goal should be achieved: the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2049. So should Taiwan be annexed to China by then?
Other analysts assume that it could even be much earlier, namely in 2027, when China's People's Liberation Army will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding.
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In order to signal Germany's solidarity with Taiwan,
According to the
Tagesspiegel
, Federal Education and Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) wants to travel to the island in the spring of next year.
It would be the first visit by a German minister to Taiwan in more than a quarter of a century.
A reaction from China can also be expected.
dpa, mke
