On December 24, US President Biden signed the "2023 National Defense Authorization Act." The bill not only contains a lot of content that slanders and attacks China, but also contains the long-term plan for the United States' arms sales to Taiwan. The bill stipulates that the United States will provide Taiwan with "military assistance" worth US$10 billion and "military payments" of US$2 billion in the next five years, and requires the US State Department and the Department of Defense to prioritize Taiwan's arms purchase requests. On the Taiwan issue, the United States has once again colluded with the Taiwan authorities. The United States rhetorically pursues the "One China" policy, but in reality continues to hollow out the "One China" principle and constantly provokes China's bottom line.
On the day after Biden signed the bill, the People's Liberation Army Eastern War organized a multi-arms joint combat readiness patrol and joint fire strike drill in the sea and airspace surrounding the Taiwan Strait. He bluntly stated that the People's Liberation Army's actions were a resolute response to the current escalation of collusion between the United States and Taiwan, and resolutely safeguarded each other's national sovereignty and territorial integrity with practical actions.
According to the live footage released by the Eastern Theater Command, this joint combat exercise dispatched a variety of main battle equipment such as H-6J bombers and 052C guided missile destroyers. From the aerial perspective, Taiwan’s central mountains can be clearly seen. It can be seen that the PLA naval and air forces are very close to Taiwan’s coastline this time, reflecting the PLA’s courage and determination to safeguard national unity.
After the People’s Liberation Army conducted joint combat readiness patrols and fire strike drills in the sea and airspace surrounding Taiwan Island, Taiwan’s defense department also promptly released information on the PLA’s warships and aircraft approaching Taiwan Island. According to information released by Taiwan, from 06:00 on December 25 to 06:00 on December 26, the People's Liberation Army dispatched 7 warships and 71 fighter sorties to the sea and airspace surrounding Taiwan Island. 47 of them flew across the so-called "central line of the strait", including 12 J-11, 6 Su-30s, 1 Rainbow-4, 6 J-10, 18 J-16, 1 Yun-8 electronic jammer, 1 Yun-8 anti-submarine patrol aircraft, 1 Air Police-500 early warning aircraft and 1 Wujian-7 unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, the lineup is quite large.
Judging from the aircraft models, the fighters dispatched to the Eastern Theater Command cover almost all models currently in service, including fighter aircraft and early warning aircraft , electronic jammers, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and other equipment, including fourth-and-a-half-generation J-16 and J-10C fighters, forming a modern air combat formation that can completely crush the F-16, Mirage-2000 and other fighters equipped on the island.
Judging from the scale of dispatches, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command dispatched 71 combat aircraft sorties to the airspace around Taiwan Island in one day, setting a record for the highest number of combat aircraft patrols across the Taiwan Strait in a single day this year. According to statistics from Taiwan, after the US House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi visited Taiwan on August 2 this year, the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army dispatched 48 fighter sorties to Taiwan on the 3rd, and then dispatched 22 sorties, 49 sorties, 20 sorties and 22 sorties from the 4th to the 7th. It can be seen that the PLA's pressure on Taiwan Island this time was significantly greater than in early August this year.
The reason why the People's Liberation Army dispatched 71 fighter sorties to the airspace around Taiwan Island in one day is to sternly warn the authorities on the island not to continue to be stubborn, otherwise the People's Liberation Army's naval and air forces can switch to actual combat status at any time; secondly, to demonstrate the People's Liberation Army's modernized joint combat capabilities, the People's Liberation Army has the confidence and ability to thwart all attempts to split China.
It is worth mentioning that the current "Liaoning" ship and "Shandong" ship of the People's Liberation Army are deployed in the Western Pacific and South China Sea respectively. Among them, the "Liaoning" ship carries multiple 055 and 052D ships. The guided-missile destroyer appeared in the eastern waters of Dadong Islands and conducted an anti-access drill in a practical context. The purpose of the drill was to block the US aircraft carrier strike group involved in the Taiwan Strait situation in the Western Pacific and cut off Taiwan's military ties with the United States in the southeast direction. Above the South China Sea, the "Shandong" aircraft carrier formation also blocks the US military's way of intervening in the Taiwan Strait from the South China Sea.
As a result, Taiwan was in a state of isolation and helplessness. At this time, the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army completed a Taiwan attack drill that was very close to the actual combat environment, which was of great significance. If it is in wartime, the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force will take the lead in attacking various air force bases on the island, destroying most of the Taiwanese fighter jets within the airport. Then the People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter jets can quickly fly over the Taiwan Strait , quickly eliminate the remaining enemies, and seize air supremacy across the Taiwan Strait in the shortest possible time. It can be said that every exercise conducted by the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command against Taiwan is an actual combat operation to attack Taiwan. Once necessary, the exercise can be turned into actual combat to complete the historical mission of reunifying the motherland in the shortest time and at the lowest cost.
It is worth noting that the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army yesterday released a picture of the H-6J bomber participating in a training exercise against Taiwan. However, the H-6J did not appear in Taiwan's air situation updates, which is very intriguing. Judging from the footage of the H-6J bomber taking off in the eastern theater, we can be sure that this bomber participated in the training against Taiwan and most likely crossed the so-called "central line of the strait". However, Taiwan has no record of it, which shows that the Taiwan military has not discovered the existence of the H-6J bomber at all.
The author believes that there are two possible reasons why Taiwan did not record the presence of the H-6J bomber: First, the H-6J bomber carried two electronic warfare pods. The detection radar was interfered with and deceived by the electronic warfare equipment of the H-6J bomber, and the Taiwan defense department was therefore unable to accurately determine the model of the aircraft. Second, the air situation dynamics released by Taiwan were only based on imagination and were very different from the real situation. Therefore, the lack of H-6J is not difficult to understand.
In the context of the United States' continuous hollowing out of the "One China" principle, the only path left for China is military reunification. Currently, the People's Liberation Army's exercises and training against Taiwan are getting larger and larger, and are getting closer to actual combat. It is ready to fight at any time. Fighting for national reunification is by no means just a slogan.
