China began three days of military maneuvers around Taiwan on Saturday in an attempt to intimidate its government, shortly after a meeting between the island’s president and a senior US official, AFP reported.

Here are some questions and answers about this Operation Shared Sword:

What happened?

China has deployed ships, fighter jets and missiles around Taiwan to “seriously warn of clashes between separatist forces seeking Taiwan independence and foreign forces,” military spokesman Shi Yi warned.

According to China’s state broadcaster CCTV, the maneuvers include patrols and “simulated joint precision strikes on key targets” with the aim of “creating a complete deterrence and encirclement” of Taiwan.

“Dozens” of J-18 and J-10C fighters, as well as anti-submarine aircraft, were mobilized for this operation.

Beijing also deployed its PHL-191 missile launchers and YJ-12B land-based anti-ship missiles, China’s Global Times reported.

On Saturday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense detected nine warships and 71 aircraft around the island, and on Sunday – the same number of ships and 58 aircraft.

What does China want?

China views Taiwan (population 23 million) as a province it has yet to reunite with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

Beijing opposes any official contacts between Taipei and foreign governments in accordance with the “one China principle”. Among them is a meeting Wednesday in California between Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Beijing has vowed to respond with “firm and vigorous” measures.

China’s military maneuvers are part of a broader campaign to “pressure Taiwan,” Jah Yang Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, told AFP.

In his opinion, these “high-level meetings allow Beijing to blame Taipei, Washington or others.

Why now?

China was waiting for Tsai to return to Taiwan to begin the joint sword.

James Char, a Chinese military expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, notes that Beijing has also been waiting for the “end” of French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to begin its exercises.

According to him, China is trying to “warm up” its relations with Europe, but a military operation against Taiwan “will undermine this diplomatic opening.”

What other measures has Beijing taken?

In response to Tsai’s visit, Beijing announced that it would ban Taipei’s de facto ambassador to the US, Xiao Bi-Him, from entering China and accused him of “deliberately inciting confrontation” in the Taiwan Strait.

The Washington think tank Hudson Institute and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library are prohibited from doing business with Chinese entities.

What is the difference from previous events?

These exercises are reminiscent of those conducted in August 2022 in response to a visit to the island by Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who then held Mr. McCarthy’s seat in the House of Representatives.

Beijing has conducted combat drills about 10 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan in a similar week-long encirclement campaign. Chinese authorities have also suspended the import of fruit and fish from the island.

This time, China announced the conduct of live firing off the coast of Fujian Province (East), located opposite Taiwan. They are scheduled for Monday.

However, the “Shared Sword” does not appear to be “on the same scale as what we saw during Pelosi’s visit,” says Manoj Kewalramani, a China expert at the Takshashila Institute in Bangalore.

He said the former US official’s visit to Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory, was on a different level than the meeting between Tsai Ing-wen and Kevin McCarthy.

The economic situation after three years of Covid and Taiwan’s importance in the sector could also have been a factor, said Su Tzu Yun, a military expert at Taiwan’s National Defense and Security Research Institute.

“The restoration of air and sea routes around Taiwan this year is very important for the economic recovery of neighboring countries and China itself, so military maneuvers should not be intensified,” he told AFP.

Last year’s drills disrupted sea and air transport on major trade routes around Taiwan.