“People on both sides Taiwan Strait they are one family. (…) No one can stop the historical trend towards national unification“- he announced Xi Jinping in a speech broadcast by state television CCTV.
Reuters recalls that last year's speech by Xi had a similar tone, when he said that people on both sides of the strait should be “united by a common sense of purpose and glory resulting from the rebirth of Chin“. Since then tensions between Taipei and Beijing have escalated significantlyespecially when Lai Ching-te, a strong supporter of the island's independence, won the May presidential elections.
China and Taiwan. The first war game. They fear escalation
December 26 on Taiwannot carried out the first computer war game predicting military escalation in the conflict with China. The exercises simulated various scenarios, including China's intense military operations “in the gray zone” (below the threshold of war), as well as a situation in which Taiwan is “on the verge of conflict”, to test the readiness to react of Taiwanese offices and society – said an anonymous source. representative of the Taiwanese security forces.
Two weeks earlier, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense announced that the number of Chinese ships, as well as, among others, coast guard units deployed near the island, it is the largest since the major maneuvers of the Chinese armed forces in 1996.
China wants to take control of Taiwan
China's communist authorities recognize democratically governed Taiwan as part of their territory and seek to take control of it. Beijing declares that it prefers to achieve unification “by peaceful means”, but does not rule out the use of force. In recent years, China has increased military pressure on the island, regularly sending fighter jets and ships to the area.
Taiwan has earmarked 2024 for defense a record $19 billionand next year's defense budget is to be 6%. higher due to the growing threat to the island's security.