“China must be, will be reunified” with Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in January 2019. The goal of reunification is a basic tenet of China’s policy regarding Taiwan. It forms a central part of Xi’s nationalist doctrine, according to which, reunification is “a must for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era”.
“We are willing to create broad space for peaceful reunification, but will leave no room for any form of separatist activities”, he added. “We make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means.”
One of the “necessary means” that China employs against Taiwan is forcing the Taiwanese air force to be on constant alert. Chinese jets made a record 380 incursions into the Taiwanese air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in 2020 — the highest number of incursions since 1996 — thereby forcing the Taiwanese air force constantly to scramble military aircraft to head off the Chinese incursions. It is part of a strategy known as “gray-zone warfare” that aims to intimidate and ultimately exhaust Taiwan’s resolve to resist the Chinese takeover. Tensions in the region are now considered to be at their highest since the mid-1990s.
The attempt to intimidate and pressure Taiwan into submission without resorting to actual war continued into the first month of 2021. Chinese air force planes, including bombers and fighters were spotted in the ADIZ no less than 27 times. The number of aircraft involved has also surged, with 28 making incursions on January 23-24 alone.
“Taiwan independence means war. The PLA’s recent military activities in the Taiwan Strait were a solemn response to interference from external forces and provocations from ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” said Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense. He added that they were “necessary actions amid the current security situation across the Strait to safeguard national sovereignty and security.”
No comments:
Post a Comment