China on Monday announced new military exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan, continuing a show of force in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island that Beijing considers part of the island. of its territory.
The continuation of the biggest maneuvers ever carried out in the region, which were due to end this Sunday (7), raises fears that the country will continue with the pressure on Taiwanese defenses, defying the calls of the West and adding more expectation that there will be a response. from the USA.
The training takes place in real war conditions and, according to a statement from the Eastern Military Command of the Chinese army, focuses on anti-submarine and maritime attack operations.
The exact duration and location of the exercises are not yet known, but Taiwan has already eased restrictions on flying near the six areas used in previous maneuvers.
On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Beijing was conducting normal military exercises in “its own waters” in an open, transparent and professional manner.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the continuation of the maneuvers, demanding a halt to the actions and saying that China is deliberately creating crises. “In the face of military intimidation created by China, Taiwan will not fear or back down, and will more firmly defend its sovereignty, national security and free and democratic way of life,” it said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden also expressed concern about the continuation of the exercises. “I’m worried they’re moving as much as they are,” he said Monday. “But I don’t think they’ll do any more than they are.”
The US government has condemned Chinese actions taken after Pelosi’s visit to the island. But Washington, which seeks to act as Taiwan’s unofficial protector, did not reveal whether it would use military force to stop the escalation.
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced what he called the “total disproportion” of the Chinese reaction, releasing a joint statement with his counterparts in Japan and Australia calling for an end to the exercises.
The Chinese Defense Ministry has maintained its diplomatic pressure on Washington. “The current tense situation in the Taiwan Strait is entirely caused and created by the US side on its own initiative, and the US side must take full responsibility and serious consequences for this,” Defense Ministry Spokesperson Wu Qian said. , in a post on social networks.
Beijing has also used the context to step up a propaganda offensive aimed at undermining Taiwan’s confidence in its security while also seeking to satisfy nationalist sentiment on the mainland.
After the military exercises began last week, Chinese state media and some diplomats began sharing publications and articles highlighting symbols of Chinese culture in Taiwanese cities, which they said would reinforce Beijing’s claim to sovereignty.
According to the Financial Times, a video posted by CCTV on Weibo — the Chinese version of Twitter — shows street signs in Taipei with the names of Chinese cities and provinces such as Tianjin, Shandong, Guiyang and Chongqing. “Every road leads home!” reads the video’s caption. “Here, every street is filled with homesickness!”
On Twitter, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying posted maps of the Taiwanese capital, showing the location of a few dozen Chinese restaurants. “Palates are not deceiving. Taiwan has always been part of China. The lost child will eventually return home,” she wrote.
Other diplomats began to share similar content, suggesting that the restaurants’ presence would indicate that Taiwan belongs to the mainland, but the argument has since been contested by some people on Twitter, who asked if McDonald’s locations in Beijing would demonstrate that China is historically part of the from the USA.
According to the Financial Times, the propaganda campaign has played with Taiwan’s complex national identity, as well as the history of Chinese migration and consecutive waves of colonization.
After being defeated in the civil war in 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government fled to the island and renamed most of the streets after cities on the mainland, as a way of defending its claim to being a legitimate government, as well as to spread influence after 50 years. of Japanese rule and centuries of weak association with the mainland.
However, surveys by Taiwanese universities for nearly 30 years show that the majority of the country’s population does not see itself as Chinese, nor do they want the island to become part of China.
