China launched its most extensive war games around Taiwan on Monday to showcase Beijing’s ability to cut off the island from outside support in a conflict, testing Taipei’s resolve to defend itself and its arsenal of U.S.-made weapons.
The Eastern Theatre Command said it had deployed troops, warships, fighter jets and artillery for its “Justice Mission 2025” exercises to encircle the democratically governed island, conduct live fire and simulated strikes on land and sea targets, and drills to blockade Taiwan’s main ports.
The live-firing exercises will continue on Tuesday across a record seven zones designated by China’s Maritime Safety Administration, making the drills the largest to date by total coverage and in areas closer to Taiwan than previous exercises. The military had initially said artillery firing would be confined to five zones.
This whole thing is a response to Taiwan spending $11bn in US weapons, of course the exercise is about Taiwan, what are you talking about?
You added an “s” at the end of puppets. That implies your proposal involves multiple countries. In your scenario, do you think it’s wise to ignore neighboring countries with us military bases?
Where do you think the logistics routes for a potential blockade of the China sea would focus on? Imo military bases are a lot more important than a country just buying American weapons, because assets on an American base are in direct control of the Americans. If your proposed alternative reason is right, why the focus on Taiwan and not other countries?
There’s also the little note of China building large, specialized naval craft coincidentally perfect for moving military forces onto taiwans beaches.