The Chinese army launched three days of military drills in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, amid tensions with the island following a meeting in the United States between its president Tsai Ing-wen and the top three American figures. .

Very tense climate. Beijing began three days of military maneuvers on Saturday. “Warning” to Taiwan’s “separatist forces,” China said, after a meeting in the United States Wednesday of the island’s president with the speaker of the American House of Representatives.

The maneuver “serves as a serious warning against collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and outside forces, as well as their provocative activities,” Chinese military spokesman Shi said in a statement. These maneuvers also included “patrols”, according to the Chinese army.

Diplomatic isolation of Taipei

Live-fire drills will be held Monday in the Taiwan Strait near the coast of Fujian (east), the province facing the island, local maritime authorities also said. These exercises, which have an “operational” dimension, are meant to show that the Chinese army will be ready, “should the provocations escalate”, to “solve the Taiwan issue once and for all”, warned military analyst Song Zhongping.

Taipei said the maneuvers threatened “stability and security” in the Asia-Pacific region. Its president, Tsai Ing-wen, denounced on Saturday “authoritarian expansion” on China’s part and assured that the region “will continue to cooperate with the United States and other countries (…) to defend the values ​​of freedom and democracy”.

This Chinese maneuver followed the visit of Ms. Tsai is this week in the United States, where she meets Wednesday Kevin McCarthy, chairman of the House of Representatives. Beijing immediately promised “firm and forceful action” in retaliation.