Chinese President Xi Jinping Instructs Soldiers To Increase Military Pressure Near Taiwan

Illustration of the Chinese Navy fleet. (Source: defensesitrep/tumblr.com

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the country's army to increase military pressure on Taiwan's southwest region, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Xi's instructions came at a recent meeting of the Central Military Commission, China's highest military authority, after six democratic nations including the United States and Japan conducted joint military exercises near Taiwan earlier this month involving three aircraft carriers.

A large number of Chinese military warplanes have entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone since last Friday, in an apparent bid to counter military drills conducted by Britain, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States.

President Xi Jinping is believed to think the military exercises in waters southwest of Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture, were designed to prevent China from uniting democratic Taiwan with the mainland and from gaining the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims.

On Monday, the United States criticized President Xi's government for the infiltration of 56 Chinese military aircraft into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), saying it undermines regional peace and stability.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the United States urges China to stop its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion on Taiwan.

"Our commitment to Taiwan is unwavering and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and in the region," Psaki said, citing Kyodo News Oct. 5.

Attacks by military planes, a record one day since the self-ruled island began disclosing the figures in September last year, brings to 149 the number of planes that have infiltrated so far.

The international community sees China violating regional peace and putting pressure on Taiwan, Premier Su Tseng-chang said Tuesday, calling on his people to unite and strengthen the island.

At the Central Military Commission, President Xi, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said China must show that it is "always ready for war. But in reality, the mainland wants to avoid direct confrontation with the United States," the source said.

In March 1996, then-US President Bill Clinton ordered two carrier strike groups into waters off the southern coast of Taiwan, to address the Chinese threat to the island before its first presidential election.

To note, China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since they split in 1949 as a result of a civil war. Their relationship has soured since independence-aligned Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016. The mainland regards the island as a rebellious province.