China starts its largest-ever military exercise surrounding Taiwan

A day after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concluded a whirlwind less than 24 hours visit to Taiwan, China started its biggest military exercise around the island nation, with Chinese state tabloid media dubbing it as a rehearsalfor the 'reunification process'.

Reportedly, China's navy, air force and other departments have taken part in the drill which is underway in six zones interspersed around Taiwan.

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A Chinese mouthpiece detailed the plan of the drill as, "From 12:00 today to 12:00 [04:00 GMT] on the 7th, the People’s Liberation Army is conducting an important military training exercise and organised live fire."

The Chinese state media further stated, "During this actual combat exercises, six major areas around the island were selected and during this period all ships and aircraft should not enter the relevant sea areas and airspace.”

In response to the Chinese threat, Taiwan has put its military on alert and already staged multiple civil defence drills. Meanwhile, the USA has moved its several naval assets in and around the conflict zone.

"The Ministry of National Defence stresses that it will uphold the principle of preparing for war without seeking war, and with an attitude of not escalating conflict and causing disputes." the defence ministry of Taiwan noted in a statement.

Some media reports have stated that Chine fired several small live rockets towards the Taiwnese side. Meanwhile, Taiwan claims to have driven away few Chinese navy ships that had crossed the median line.

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As reported by WION, ahead of the full-fledged military exercise, twenty-seven Chinese warplanes flew into the island nation's air defence zone on Wednesday,

Taiwan's defence ministry said in a tweet: "27 PLA aircraft... entered the surrounding area of (Republic of China) on August 3, 2022." The ministry informed that as many as six J-11 fighter jets, five J-16 multirole fighters and 16 SU-30 multirole fighters entered the air defence zone today.

Read More:Taiwan's defence ministry says 27 Chinese warplanes enter air defence zone

Pelosi's visit to Taiwan was the first high-ranking official visit from the US in 25 years. China continues to maintain that Taiwan is a part of its 'One China Policy'.

However, the US continuesto maintain a strategic ambiguity on the topic. Pelosi's visit has opened pandora's box and it will be interesting to observe the extent of escalation tactics employed by China in the next few days.

(With inputs from agencies)

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