China flies fighter jets near Taiwan in first Biden tests

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Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 13 Chinese planes entered the southwestern part of the island’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, followed by 15 on Sunday, prompting Taipei to take defensive measures, including jammed fighter jets to monitor Chinese flights.

According to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, Chinese military planes carried out more than 380 flights in the island’s air defense identification zone last year. The United States Federal Aviation Administration defines an ADIZ as “a designated area of ​​airspace above land or water in which a country requires the immediate and positive identification, location and control of the aircraft. air traffic of aircraft in the interest of the national security of the country ”.

As the frequency of these exercises has increased in recent years, the timing and composition of the latest formations – mostly fighter jets and bombers – seemed intended to send a message to the new administration in Washington.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of nearly 24 million people located off the southeast coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed that Beijing will never allow the island to become independent and has refused to rule out the use of force if necessary.

In a statement on Saturday, the Biden administration urged Beijing to stop trying to intimidate Taiwan and pledged support for the democratic government in Taipei.

“We urge Beijing to end its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in a constructive dialogue with the democratically elected representatives of Taiwan,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price, adding that American-Taiwanese relations are strengthening and that Washington remains determined to the autonomy of the island.

The United States has shown a strong commitment to the defense of Taiwan during the Trump administration, approving the sale of advanced military equipment to Taipei, including F-16 fighter jets, while sending high-level envoys on the island, two movements that angered Beijing.
In an initial show of support from the Biden administration for the island, Taiwan’s de facto Ambassador to the United States, Hsiao Bi-khim, attended Biden’s inauguration last week. It was the first such official invitation to a representative of the Taipei government since 1979, when Washington established official diplomatic relations with Beijing. On the same day, Beijing announced sanctions against outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and 27 other senior officials under Trump, accusing them of “prejudice and hatred against China.”

American carrier in the South China Sea

In addition to supporting Taiwan, State Department spokesman Price said on Saturday that Washington would also stand alongside other Indo-Pacific friends and allies as China ramps up military activities in the region.

In a demonstration of this solidarity, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike group entered the South China Sea this weekend, the first deployment during the Biden administration of one of 100,000 warships. tons with its contingent of more than 60 aircraft.

The US guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain, rear, and Royal Australian Navy HMAS Ballarat sail together during integrated operations in the South China Sea in October.

A U.S. Navy statement said the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its guided missile cruiser and destroyers were escorting a planned deployment to maintain the freedom of the seas in the 1.3 million square kilometer South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely as its sovereign territory. .

“With two-thirds of world trade traveling through this very important region, it is vital that we maintain our presence and continue to promote rules-based order,” said Vice-Admiral Doug Verissimo, Commander of Carrier Strike Group Nine. A declaration.

But at the end of 2020, China said military moves like that of Roosevelt’s strike group had inflamed tensions.

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“Some countries outside the region have come from afar to flex their military muscles, spark clashes and create tensions in the South China Sea, which is causing the ‘militarization’ of this region,” said the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Tan Kefei. said during a regular press briefing.

Last year, the U.S. Navy sent two of its aircraft carriers, the world’s largest warships, to the South China Sea twice for two exercises, which it failed to do during of the previous six years.

Washington also conducts regular freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, the latest in December. They involve US warships sailing within 12 nautical miles of coastline that nations can claim as their territorial waters.

China’s new coastguard law

Beijing gave another indication on Friday on how it can tighten its control over the waters it claims in the region, passing a new law allowing its coast guards to shoot at foreign ships.

The law, which comes into force on February 1, also allows the coast guard to demolish foreign structures built on reefs and islands claimed by China and create exclusion zones to prevent foreign vessels from entering.

The law could not only increase the odds of clashes between China and other South China Sea claimants – which include Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan – but also in the sea. East China, where China and Japan are contesting sovereignty over a group of islands known as Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyus in China.
Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands are pictured in an archive photo.
On Monday, on its English-language news website, the Chinese military made specific reference to the islands controlled by Japan when announcing the law’s enactment, with a headline saying it protects Beijing’s sovereignty. on the uninhabited rock range, 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo. .

“The new coast guard law shows China’s clear attitude and determination to safeguard its sovereignty,” the report said, quoting Lu Yaodong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. social affiliated with the State.

“Regular patrols near the Diaoyu Islands will be guaranteed by law,” Lu said.

Chinese ships spent record time in the waters around the islands last year, prompting condemnation from Tokyo. Washington has repeatedly said the islands are covered by the US-Japan Mutual Defense Treaty, which would require the United States to respond to any Chinese action against Japanese ships.

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