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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 PLA exercises simulated joint attack: commentator
The national flags of China, left, and Taiwan are shown in an illustration created on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
/ Staff writer, with CNA
China’s live-fire military exercises around Taiwan were consistent with its plan to use force against Taiwan and part of a broader joint attack strategy for large islands, a military commentator said on Sunday.
China held four days of live-fire military exercises around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday in retaliation for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
The drills by China’s People’s Liberation Army （PLA） were conducted in stages and focused on different targets, said Chieh Chung （揭仲）, a research fellow at the Association of Strategic Foresight.
In the first phase on Thursday, the drills focused mainly on “joint fire assault operations,” including the launch of ballistic missiles by the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command into maritime areas around Taiwan.
These drills simulated precision long-range attacks targeting designated areas in the north, south, east and center of Taiwan proper, Chieh said.
The PLA also deployed large numbers of fighter planes and warships around Taiwan in simulations aimed at reinforcing the ballistic missile launches, he said.
PLA military aircraft and warships fired long-distance precision-guided munitions at targets already hit by the ballistic missiles to boost the impact of the “joint fire assault operations,” Chieh said.
During the second phase of the exercises on Friday and Saturday, the PLA tested a “joint blockade operation” in which fighter jets and warships simulated cutting off sea and air traffic from Taiwan proper, Chieh said.
The goal was to restrict the mobilization of Taiwan’s navy and air force and disable them to gain sea and air superiority around Taiwan, including in the western Pacific Ocean, Chieh said.
The third phase of the exercises on Saturday and Sunday might have focused on simulating a “joint island-landing operation,” Chieh said.
Under that scenario, the PLA Navy and Air Force would provide cover for ships carrying troops, transport aircraft groups and helicopter groups, and advance toward target areas on Taiwan proper, he said.
In addition to stopping attempts by Taiwan’s navy and air force to intercept them, the PLA troops would attack garrisons and defensive positions on Taiwan proper to support the PLA’s island landing operations, he said.
The PLA deliberately divided the drills into stages conducted over four days so that troops could be deployed, their performance could be more easily evaluated and the drills’ intimidation effect could be magnified, Chieh said.
Separately, Yoji Koda, a former Japanese fleet commander, was quoted by Asahi Shimbun as saying that it would not be easy for the PLA to blockade Taiwan if US troops are deployed.
“It will not be easy to attack Taiwan, especially to initiate a landing operation,” he said.
With regard to Beijing announcing fresh drills in the Yellow Sea — located between China and the Korean Peninsula — from Saturday last week until Monday next week and in the Bohai Sea for a month from yesterday, Lin Ying-yu （林穎佑）, an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said that they might have been triggered by a US general’s comments.
Lin quoted Scott Pleus, deputy commander of US Forces Korea, as telling South Korean reporters on Thursday that “if something happens to Taiwan, US troops in Korea can be sent in any time.”
If Beijing plans to invade Taiwan, its aircraft carriers might sail south from Dalian, so it would be key for US troops in South Korea is to contain the PLA before it heads south, Lin said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
