China: Last day of broad military maneuvers around Taiwan

China is set to wrap up its biggest military maneuvers around Taiwan on Sunday, an angry reaction to US Vice President Nancy Pelosi’s trip to the island that has plunged ties between Beijing and Washington to their lowest point in decades.

US third-ranking Nancy Pelosi has sparked anger in China with her visit, the largest by a US elected official in 25 years. Beijing responded by suspending bilateral discussions and cooperation, including on climate change and security.

China’s military has also launched the largest military drills in its history, sending warplanes, warships and ballistic missiles in what analysts say is a mock siege and invasion of Taiwan. Although Beijing has announced new “live fire” exercises in the Yellow Sea that separates China from the Korean Peninsula until August 15, the wider maneuvers are due to end by midday on Sunday.

Taiwanese authorities said that as of 5:00 p.m. Saturday (11:00 a.m. Swiss time), “20 Communist aircraft and 14 boats are conducting joint air-sea exercises around Taiwan,” according to the Defense Ministry. At least 14 of them crossed the demarcation line, forcing Taipei to rush patrol planes to chase them away.

The exercises were “considered a mock attack on Taiwan’s main island,” the ministry said. A neutral line drawn unilaterally by the US during the Cold War, in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, separating the island from mainland China, has never been recognized by Beijing.

Demonstrating just how close Taiwan has come to the coast, the Chinese military released a photo taken from one of its warships on Saturday, showing a Taiwanese naval building just a few hundred meters away. This shot is probably the closest to the Taiwan coast taken by Chinese forces.

The Chinese military has released a video showing one of its fighter pilots flying over the coast and mountains of Taiwan from his cockpit in full flight. According to CCTV on Chinese state television, missiles flew over Taiwan this week during a drill across the island – a first.

Taipei has continued to condemn the maneuvers in recent days, slamming its “malicious neighbor” and calling on Beijing on Saturday to “immediately stop stoking tension and taking provocative actions aimed at threatening the Taiwanese people”.

Several experts explained to AFP that the drills served as a warning: Now it appears that the Chinese military will be able to carry out a complete siege of the island, while preventing American forces from coming to its aid.

“In some areas its capabilities may exceed America’s,” notes Grant Newsham, a former US Navy officer and researcher at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies. “If a (future) war is limited directly to the area around Taiwan, the Chinese navy will be a strong opponent. And (…) unless the Americans and Japanese intervene, things will be very difficult for Taiwan.