"Double L-shaped encirclement of Taiwan"! The People's Liberation Army has sent another 36 aircraft and warships to the Taiwan Strait, from north to east and then southwest, completely "framing" Taiwan Island. In this way, within two days, a total of 83 aircraft (vessels) have encircled Taiwan. Taiwanese media interprets this as a firm protest by mainland China against the U.S. and British warships passing through the Taiwan Strait, which is a dual deterrence against "Taiwan independence" forces and external interference, and also sends out a political signal that "the more 'Taiwan independence', the tighter the anti-secession net will be; the more interference, the faster the Taiwan issue will be resolved."
The Lai administration is in a panic. The Taiwan military announced the latest situation around the Taiwan Strait today, pointing out that the PLA launched 26 sorties of various types of military aircraft to "interfere with Taiwan" within 24 hours from 6:00 a.m. yesterday (14th) to 6:00 a.m. today, of which as many as 23 sorties crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, entering the airspace over northern, southwestern and eastern Taiwan, demonstrating the "double L-shaped encirclement of Taiwan." At the same time, 10 warships continued to operate in the surrounding waters of the Taiwan Strait.
Between 6:00 a.m. on the 13th and 6:00 a.m. on the 14th, the PLA had 47 aircraft and warships patrolling the Taiwan Strait, of which 26 sorties of military aircraft flew over the "middle line of the Taiwan Strait," directly entering the airspace over the northern, central, southwestern and eastern parts of the island, forming a four-sided encirclement.
The Taiwan military admitted that the mainland's military actions were "highly provocative," putting pressure on the "air defense identification zone" of Taiwan. In addition to repeating the old rhetoric of "strict monitoring," it also claimed to have activated the shore-based missile system "to monitor" and maintain "high alertness."
Taiwanese media interpreted that the PLA's continuous "large-scale military presence" around the island for two consecutive days was likely a major move to protest the U.S. destroyer "Higgins" and the British frigate "Richeston" passing through the Taiwan Strait on the 12th. In fact, on that day, when the U.S. and British warships "passed through the Taiwan Strait," they not only did so on the same day as the Fujian aircraft carrier crossing the Taiwan Strait to go to the South China Sea, but also made special provocative moves. Therefore, the PLA certainly strongly countered.
Regarding the U.S. and Western warships coming to the Taiwan Strait to cause trouble, military experts in the island pointed out that the mainland has entered the "three-aircraft carrier era," and in the future, there will be a PLA aircraft carrier battle group constantly cruising near the eastern part of Taiwan Island. This not only undermines the basic defense operations of the Taiwan military, but also completely shatters the U.S. military's plan to launch an attack by using the PLA's passage through strategic waterways.
This also means that the dream of the Democratic Progressive Party to "rely on the U.S. to seek independence" is destined to be a dead end.
Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1843300723508236/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.