US destroyer surfaced off the coast of southern China

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Tensions with China have escalated following Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the United States. China’s People’s Liberation Army continued large-scale military maneuvers near Taiwan for a third consecutive day on Monday. The Eastern Command organized further exercises and patrols on Monday, as well as air strikes against land targets, the Chinese military said. Meanwhile, the US showed military prowess in the South China Sea with a US destroyer making a sortie near the Chinese-claimed Mischief Reef.

The maneuvers near Taiwan, which have been underway since Saturday, are in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s stopover on his way back from a trip to Central America in the United States. In California, the president met with Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy – the number three in the US according to protocol – on Wednesday. It was the first meeting of its kind on American soil.

Tensions around Taiwan

Taiwan’s defense ministry reported that 59 Chinese aircraft and 11 warships were spotted near the island’s democratic republic within four hours on Monday morning. 39 aircraft had crossed the previously respected, unofficial centerline of the Taiwan Strait and had also penetrated the Taiwan Air Surveillance Zone (ADIZ), which serves as a kind of buffer zone for the People’s Republic.

The communist leadership in Beijing considers independently governed Taiwan part of the People’s Republic and threatens to conquer it. China is trying to isolate Taiwan internationally and resolutely rejects other countries’ official contacts with Taiwan. Large-scale military maneuvers were held after McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taipei in August.

The conflict in Taiwan is an important topic between China and the United States. Washington has been committed to the defense capacity of the island since 1979, which has so far mainly resulted in arms deliveries. Observers fear the dispute could potentially lead to a military confrontation between the two world powers. The US and China also disagree over Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.

US destroyers off the Chinese coast

In the escalating tensions, the US guided missile destroyer USS Milius completed a mission near the Mischief atoll of the Spratly Islands on Monday. As the US 7th Fleet announced, the US warship stood up for freedom of navigation in the sea area claimed by China and other countries. The “USS Milius” then left the area again.

The reef is inundated with water in its natural state and therefore does not allow for territorial claims under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the statement said. China’s land reclamation and the facilities built have not changed that. “Illegal and far-reaching claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including freedom of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded business.”

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has built artificial islands to support its claims. This also applies to strategically important and resource-rich areas that countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines claim as their own. Neighboring countries of the US and China accuse Beijing of increasing militarization of the region. The International Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected China’s territorial claims in 2016. However, China ignores the verdict. (SDA/AFP)

Source: Blick