Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 4: Even as an angry China fired ballistic missiles and deployed fighter jets and warships on Thursday as part of its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, the movement of a Chinese ship able to track ballistic missiles and satellites heading for a Sri Lankan port has raised security concerns in India.
China’s military on Thursday began unprecedented live-firing drills in six regions surrounding Taiwan, firing missiles from its eastern coast into waters east of the island and putting in place an effective blockade that disrupted flights and shipping.
The drills, which will continue until Sunday, were part of Beijing’s response to Wednesday’s visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Pelosi was the highest-profile US official to visit Taiwan in years, defying a series of stark threats from Beijing, which views the self-ruled island as its territory.
In retaliation, China launched a series of exercises in multiple zones around Taiwan, straddling some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and at some points just 20 kilometres from the island’s shore. The drills began around 12 pm and involved a “conventional missile firepower assault” in waters to the east of Taiwan, the Chinese military said.
But India’s security concern has been raised with the Yuan Wang Class ship that tracks satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles is expected to dock in Hambantota Port on August 11 or 12. The ship, which has a crew of 400, is equipped with a large parabolic tracking antenna and various sensors.
If deployed in parts of the Indian Ocean, the ship may be able to monitor India’s missile tests from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. By tracking Indian ballistic missile tests, China will be able to glean information on the performance of missiles and their exact range.
The Sri Lankan government has said they would allow the ship to dock since it was a non-nuclear platform but were aware of India’s concerns. “China informed us that they are sending their ship for surveillance and navigation in the Indian Ocean,” said Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry media spokesman Colonel Nalin Herath.
Indian government sources said they were monitoring the progress of the ship. India has made it clear it will closely monitor “any bearing on India’s security and economic interests and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them.”
The ship is controlled by the China National Space Administration but have very significant military applications. India remains suspicious of China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka, which owes large amounts of money to Beijing for infrastructure projects, including the $1.4-billion Hambantota Port.
Meanwhile, Eastern Theatre Command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi in a statement on Thursday said the aim of the military exercises around Taiwan was to test the precision of the missiles and their ability to deny an enemy access to or control of an area.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence said 11 Dongfeng series missiles had been fired “in several batches” into waters north, south and east of the island and marked the first time missiles had been fired over the island. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry called the firing “a provocation” that “is threatening our security, escalating tensions in the region, and interrupting international transportation and trade.” It condemned the exercises as “irrational actions that undermine regional peace.” Taipei did not say where the missiles landed or whether they flew over the island.
“What we are taking and will be taking are a necessary and timely response and countermeasures which have been fully thought through and fully assessed, to protect sovereignty and territorial integrity, in line with international laws, and a warning to provocateurs,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, announcing that Beijing had also called off a meeting set for Thursday between the Foreign Ministers of China and Japan to express its displeasure over a statement by the G7 group of nations that had defended Ms. Pelosi’s visit and criticised China’s actions.
“They clearly believe they live in the time of 120 years ago,” she said, comparing the G7 to the eight-nation alliance that invaded China in 1900. “We no longer live in a world where Imperialist powers can ride roughshod over Chinese people on Chinese land. Today’s China is not the old China of 100 years ago that was humiliated and bullied.”
“In the face of this blatant provocation, we have to take legitimate and necessary countermeasures to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing Thursday. Military analysts told Beijing’s state broadcaster CCTV that the goal was to practice a possible blockade of the island and contain its pro-independence forces.
The operations are conducted in an unprecedentedly close range to the Taiwan Island,” the military experts said. “The operations will leave a deterrence effect that is stronger than ever before.” Chinese State media described the drills as “unprecedented” and noted that missiles, fired from the eastern coast of China, had likely flown above the island of Taiwan for the first time, as they had struck targets in waters to the east.
Chinese media reports said the conventional missile launches had practiced hitting foreign aircraft carriers to test China’s area denial capacities in the event of external intervention in a future conflict. Chinese analysts said the drills were meant to signal a new normal in China’s military activities around Taiwan.
The manoeuvres are taking place along some of the busiest shipping routes on the planet, used to supply vital semiconductors and electronic equipment produced in East Asian factory hubs to global markets. Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau has issued warnings to ships to avoid the areas being used for the Chinese drills. And the Taiwanese cabinet said the drills would disrupt 18 international routes passing through its flight information region (FIR).
Taiwan’s 23 million people have long lived with the possibility of an invasion, but that threat has intensified under President Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive ruler in a generation. Analysts said the Chinese leadership is keen to project strength ahead of a crucial ruling party meeting this autumn at which Xi is expected to be given an unprecedented third term.