The Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army carried out a number of simulated strikes against key targets on the Taiwan Island and its surrounding waters in exercises over the weekend, the command said.
In addition to the mock joint precision attacks, forces under the command continue to surround the island to maintain “a situation of deterrence and suppression”, the command said in a statement on Sunday.
The military operations came after Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen met with United States House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday during her recent provocative “transit” trip.
Tsai visited Central American countries from March 29 to April 7, with so-called “transit” stops in New York and Los Angeles to win political gain as part of schemes seeking “Taiwan independence”.
Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the command, said on Saturday that the “Joint Sword “exercises would take place from Saturday to Monday in the waters and airspace of the Taiwan Straits and to the north, east and south of the island.
The officer said the operations are a serious warning to the collusion and provocations by “Taiwan independence” separatists and external forces, and a necessary move to safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
During exercises on Sunday, destroyers, frigates and anti-ship missile vessels in the Taiwan Straits cooperated with ballistic and cruise missile units deployed along the mainland’s coast to track targets on the southwest of the Taiwan Island. Naval vessels also moved into predetermined strike positions after “rapid and stealthy engagement maneuvers”, according to the statement.
In a video clip broadcast on China Central Television, a Navy reporter on board the CNS Xuzhou frigate said the ship was making tactical movement to the east of Taiwan. He said the frigate was about five nautical miles (9.2 kilometers) away from a naval ship from Taiwan, which is a 49-year-old decommissioned US vessel now leased to the island.
In the air, dozens of fighter jets, bombers as well as early-warning, reconnaissance and electronic warfare planes formed assault groups, and provided target guidance and simulated fire support to other forces.
On the ground, long-range rocket artillery units simulated several rounds of precision bombardments on multiple targets. Meanwhile, ballistic and cruise missile units completed their first round of mock attacks on high-value targets in Taiwan and then transferred to new positions waiting for orders about the second round, the statement noted.
On Saturday, the command mobilized destroyers, frigates, missile boats, fighter jets, bombers, electronic warfare planes and refueling aircraft, as well as multiple-launch rocket systems and conventional ballistic missile units, to designated zones for combat deployment.
The major task of the operations on Saturday was to test the forces’ capability of seizing dominance at sea, in the air and in the information domain, the command said, adding that the units involved had been organized to move toward the island to establish a deterrence.
Video clips uploaded by the command showed some of the PLA’s latest hardware, such as the YY-20 refueling tanker and PCH-191 multiple-launch rocket vehicle, being used in the exercises.
Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, a high-ranking researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said the “Joint Sword” exercises feature the use of a wide range of hardware as well as interservice tactical maneuvers.
“Moreover, the drills are based on actual combat scenarios, aiming to check the troops’ capability to engage in joint combat operations. They have shown our determination and power to seize and maintain superiority in the air, on the sea and in the information domain. The dominance in these fields is crucial to winning modern war and we are sure about our overwhelming advantages over the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” he said.
