The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced earlier today that the PLA Eastern Theater Command continued to carry out joint combat training exercises in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island, mainly focusing on joint anti-submarine and air-to-sea assault operations. Global Times cited unnamed experts saying that drills like these will not stop and are expected to become routine until reunification, as the Chinese mainland shows its determination to push forward the reunification process after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to the island last week that seriously violated China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Furthermore, these drills not only lock the island from inside out, but also from the outside in, telling external forces that the PLA has powerful area denial capabilities in the region that even the U.S. cannot rival, analysts said.
Reuters cited Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reporting that it had detected 39 Chinese air force planes and 13 navy ships in and around the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 8. Twenty-one Chinese air force planes had entered Taiwan’s air defense zone, including fighter jets that crossed the median line in the northern part of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
