A day of firsts as massive Chinese military drills break decades-old tacit rules with Taiwan
- On day 1 of exercises that will last until Sunday, the PLA lobs ballistic missiles over the island and breaches its airspace
- The tactics, which break decades-old tacit Beijing-Taipei agreement, are part of a strategy to strike fear and panic across the Taiwan Strait, analyst says
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Mainland China launches largest military drill in the Taiwan Strait after Pelosi’s visit
The US does not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state and acknowledges the one-China principle, but it opposes any attempt to take the island by force. China sees the visit by Pelosi – the second in line to the US presidency – as a provocation after repeated warnings against the trip.
Unlike previous military exercises that were mainly symbolic, the drills this time were closer to actual combat and set many precedents designed to erode Taiwan’s strategic defence space, military analysts said.
“The tacit agreements [between the two militaries] have been broken. This time, the PLA aims to push the boundaries both in weapon systems and actual tactics,” said Song Zhongping, a former Chinese military instructor.
The median line of the Taiwan Strait separates mainland China and Taiwan and was drawn by the US in 1955 in the aftermath of the bitter Chinese civil war, with Washington pressuring both sides to abide by an unspoken agreement not to cross it.