Military exercises with live fire are held China in six self-proclaimed zones around Taiwanin response to the visit of its President American House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosion an island that Beijing considers its own territory.

China has warned planes and ships to avoid these areas during the operation, which will end on Sunday.

China’s military is the largest in the world and its navy has many more ships than Taiwan, which has nevertheless vowed to resist the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to take control of the island.

“It will take decisive diplomatic intervention to restore stability,” said Carys Templeman, a political scientist at Stanford University. “I don’t know how this confrontation will turn out, but we have a stormy couple of weeks ahead.”

But what are the key questions related to this escalation of tension?

What is China doing around Taiwan?

China says it has begun exercises involving fighter jets, warships and ballistic tests in six zones around Taiwan. They are only 20 kilometers from the coast of the island, which means that they are likely to violate the territorial waters of Taiwan.

Beijing gave few details but called the drills punishment for allowing the US to allow Pelosi to visit the island despite President Joe Biden’s ability to stop her.

Live fire exercises are a test of the military’s ability to carry out missions in combat. In this case, they are meant to demonstrate the extent of the force China could use against Taiwan if Beijing honors its obligation to control the island and punish those who support independence.

The exercise is considered Taiwan’s largest and most dangerous since Beijing fired missiles into the waters north and south of the island in 1995 and 1996 in response to then-President Lee Teng-Hui’s visit to the US.

China often sends planes to Taiwan airspace. There have even been instances where he has trespassed across the Taiwan Strait without making any raids or attacks that could spark a regional conflict.

What is China trying to achieve?

China is increasingly advocating taking control of Taiwan, even by force, in a challenge to Washington and other supporters of the island’s independence.

Pelosi’s visit comes at a particularly critical time as Chinese President and military commander Xi Jinping is running for a third five-year term as head of the ruling Communist Party. Xi has not named a successor and has amassed massive powers despite criticism of his economic management, in part because of his Covid-19 hardline and a marked deterioration in relations with the West.

Xi said Taiwan’s future cannot remain “up in the air,” while US officials said China could resort to military intervention in the next few years.

China’s constitution calls Taiwan Chinese territory, and the island’s 2005 anti-secession law “provides” for invasion if “there is no chance of peaceful reunification”, which appears to include a scenario of a formal declaration of independence or outside intervention. .

China is pushing for Taiwan to recognize itself as part of China, whose only legitimate government is in Beijing. Faced with military threats from China and its relentless efforts to diplomatically isolate Taiwan, the island’s residents overwhelmingly support its de facto independence.

This sentiment has been heightened by Beijing’s harsh crackdown on civil rights and free speech in Hong Kong, which China has long cited as an example of Taiwan’s future governance.

What was the reaction of Taiwan and the US?

Taiwan put its military on alert and conducted civil defense exercises. Although its forces are much smaller than China’s, they are backed by high-tech weapons and early warning systems designed to make a Chinese invasion as difficult as possible. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which China has sidelined, has sent a wake-up call to Taipei, which is now trying to boost its military training and readiness.

Currently, a large number of US forces are deployed in areas near Taiwan, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its accompanying strike group.

It is noted that Washington has repeatedly rejected China’s claims that the Taiwan Strait belongs to it.

How long will the tension last?

It remains unclear whether China will maintain a high level of tension even after the current exercises are over. Officials from the Foreign and Defense Ministries, the Taiwanese Affairs Administration and other agencies promised that both the administration of President Tsai Ing-Wen and the US government would pay for Pelosi’s visit to the island, without giving details of how or when. it will be done.

Following Pelosi’s visit, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told U.S. National Public Radio that “the possibility of some kind of incident is real,” given the scale of the Chinese exercise.

“And we believe China’s actions are irresponsible. We think it builds tension for no reason,” Sullivan said.

The longstanding modus vivendi between Washington and Beijing is “seriously” contested by both sides, Stanford University’s Templeman said.

Washington has challenged Beijing with high-level visits, loosening official restrictions on foreign contacts and arms sales.

“Washington as a whole now cares much less about offending China and shows much less respect for Beijing’s demands on Taiwan,” Templeman said.

^{Source: Associated Press.}