China exercises with live ammunition while Taiwan receives European support

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China began a round of military exercises with live ammunition at sea in northern Taiwan this Wednesday, applying pressure to the Taipei government as the island gains the most explicit Western support in decades of dispute with Beijing .

The move, which will involve Chinese ships and planes for a week in the East China Sea, is aimed at putting pressure on not just Taiwan, but Japan, the US and Western allies.

On Wednesday, an unprecedented delegation of seven members of the European Parliament disembarked for a three-day visit to the island, which the communist dictatorship considers a rebel province to be reincorporated.

“We are delighted to be able to offer support to our friends,” group leader Raphael Glucksmann told reporters at the airport. They will meet with politicians, businessmen and President Tsai Ing-wen, who had already caused a stir on the continent by confirming, for the first time, that US military personnel were on Taiwanese soil participating in exercises with local soldiers.

In addition, island media have confirmed that Taipei special forces are being trained by US Marines in Guam (US possession of the Pacific), a step far beyond the usual military exercises in waters that Beijing claims for itself, such as those in the weekend in the South China Sea with an American aircraft carrier and a Japanese frigate. It was the ninth time this year that the main American attack ships had been operating in the region, according to the Institute for Research on the Strategic Situation of the South China Sea, at Peking University.

`The new Japanese government, which took over last month, has accentuated the bellicose rhetoric of its predecessors and publicly admitted for the first time that it may have to act to contain China in Taiwan.

The exercise in the East China Sea also targets Japan, which has islands with oil reserves disputed by Beijing. Two weeks ago, Chinese and Russians maneuvered with the same objective.

Tensions had already been building this year, reaching a paroxysm when Beijing sent 149 planes over four days in October to test Taiwan’s air defenses, greatest action of its kind in history. Throughout the month, there were almost 200 aircraft, half of all that had been used in the year.

As the Taiwanese beat war drums, warning that Beijing may feel safe to invade the island by 2025, experts generally see big risks for communist forces — starting with the fact that only 10% of Taiwan’s coastline is within easy reach, thus being strongly defensible.

In any case, Taiwan is seen as a hotspot and susceptible to the incidence of military accidents in the region. The Cold War 2.0 between the US and China, which goes from politics to commerce, has gained a clearer war outline with the American exit from Afghanistan and the strengthening of alliances in the Indo-Pacific.

The drumroll of war began to reverberate in the world of fake news. On Tuesday, the People’s Liberation Army of China had to debunk rumors on Chinese social networks that a mobilization was underway. At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce issued a warning to residents of some regions to stock up on non-perishable food, which was read as a harbinger of conflict.

Again, the government had to explain that the request had to do with some crops failing due to climate change.

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