TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China is continuing military exercises around Taiwan three days after they were supposed to end, while on Tuesday (Aug. 9), the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) rehearsed intercepting Taiwanese military aircraft and naval vessels trying to break a simulated "blockade," including in the waters off of northern Taiwan.
Massive military exercises that were launched by China on Aug. 4, allegedly in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, were originally planned to end on Aug. 7. However, in the three days since, China has continued to hold military drills by air and sea in the Taiwan Strait, often crossing the median line in the process.
On Wednesday (Aug. 10), the PLA's Eastern Theater Command announced in a press release that on the previous day it held joint training in the "sea and airspace around Taiwan Island." It stated that the missions included air superiority operations, aerial refueling, and sea support to test and improve the PLA's ability to jointly blockade the sea and airspace around Taiwan.
The Eastern Theater Command stated that fighter jets took off from one of the training sites armed with live ammunition. They were then ordered by a ground command post to intercept virtual attacking "enemy" aircraft. The fighters then flew to the target area, where they virtually "shot down attacking 'enemy' aircraft," before resuming their patrols while in a standby state.
During the operation, one of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) regiments equipped with a "new type of tanker" established a refueling position in a predetermined sector of airspace. Several fighter jets returned to the operation area after successful aerial refueling to continue the "blockade mission," according to the statement.
The PLA then claimed that a simulation was held in which a PLAN frigate on a "police patrol mission" found that an "enemy" ship was heading toward waters where the exercises were held at a "high rate of speed." The Chinese vessel quickly sounded the alarm and "forced the 'enemy ship' to turn around and flee" by occupying an attack position and broadcasting warning messages.
That same day, other PLA forces in the theater also organized other training sessions, such as joint sea-air search and rescue, ammunition and material supply, emergency equipment repair, and training in rescue and transfer of the wounded.
In a Wednesday Weibo post, the Eastern Theater Command stated it had dispatched many batches of multi-type aircraft including early warning aircraft, fighter aircraft, and jammers to practice enforcing blockades (no-fly zones) in "complex electromagnetic environments."
Reuters cited a source familiar with the matter that about 20 Chinese and Taiwanese naval vessels remained close to the median line Wednesday morning. The report added that several PLAN ships also carried out missions off the east coast of Taiwan.