The maneuvers this time only lasted one day, Monday, October 14, and the rhetoric seems almost routine between the two sides of the strait. The Chinese army presented them as “serious warnings” in front of “separatist actions”four days after the first National Day speech of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, elected in January and hated by Beijing. In return, the latter undertook to “protect a democratic Taiwan and safeguard national security”.
Behind what could be considered symbolic gestures that do not specifically affect the daily lives of Taiwanese, China is advancing in its preparation, if one day it opts for a real invasion of the island, which it claims as one of its provinces. Beijing is intensifying the pressure exerted, as evidenced by the record of 153 Chinese aircraft detected near the island in one day until 6 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense.
Since 2020, its air force has increased raids near the island. First by day, then by day and by night, then by combat and intelligence aircraft, carrying out resupply operations and, finally, by sending drones. These maneuvers allow the pilots of the Chinese army, which has no recent combat experience – unlike the US or Russian forces – to improve in all these areas. And they exhaust Taiwanese forces, whose fighters must take off to prepare for an interception if these planes do not return.
“The increasing frequency of raids puts great pressure on aviation. The pilots are tired, there are maintenance problems with the planes, whose availability rate is decreasing. “Our defense capacity suffers”says retired general Chang Yan-ting, former number two in the Taiwanese air force. It has just under 150 American F-16 fighters and around fifty aging Mirage 2000s, hence an acute need for modernization.
Among its aircraft, China sends, in particular, the Y-8, an intelligence aircraft – and not a combat one – that has underwater detection capabilities, particularly in the area that separates southern Taiwan from northern Philippines, the Strait of Bashi. For China, it is about better understanding the area, as well as the movement of US nuclear submarines there. In the event of war, they would be the greatest threat to Chinese ships.
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