Official state media reports released this week were trivial, but said Xi had signed orders announcing the outline of tests for “military operations outside the war.” He said the tests would begin on Wednesday. A later report by the Global Times, a state-backed nationalist tabloid, said the unpublished outlines would provide a legal basis for the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) to “protect national sovereignty, security and development interests.” of China “. They will also allow military missions around disaster relief, humanitarian aid and peacekeeping, he said. Legal changes will allow troops to “prevent the secondary effects of regional instability from affecting China, secure critical transportation routes for strategic materials such as oil, or protect Chinese investment, projects and personnel abroad,” he said. the exhibition. Some analysts say the move appears to mimic Vladimir Putin’s characterization of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation.” The Russian invasion has raised fears in Taiwan, which Beijing claims is a Chinese province and has not ruled out “reunification” by force. Taiwan – officially the Republic of China (Taiwan) – claims to be a sovereign state. Chen U-po, a member of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said he hoped China would not use the new laws to “act indiscriminately and invade other countries.” Blake Herzinger, an expert on defense policy in the Indo-Pacific, said he tended to see development as a mature military force, not something “particularly ominous”. “Creating the policy base for a stronger PLA involvement in China’s foreign policy may be related to the new bases suggested by some (Cambodia, Solomons, etc.), but the PLA already has a permanent presence abroad in a basic agreement, “he said on Twitter. “I am more inclined to think of this in terms of stability operations or other activities related to Chinese investment and citizens in Pakistan and elsewhere.” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told the media that China was seeking to “shape the world around it in a way it has not done before”. “Our national interest lies in claiming the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation, freedom of overflight in international waters, in places like the South China Sea,” he said. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry officials jeopardized a Chinese claim to the Taiwan Straits, the body of water that separates China from the main island of Taiwan. Foreign countries in recent years have crossed warships through naval freedom exercises, angering Beijing. Most countries have formal diplomatic relations with China and not with Taiwan, but Taiwan has key defense agreements with the United States and broad support from other governments around the world. On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China had “sovereignty, sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Straits”, accusing other countries that called the Strait’s international waters of making false allegations “in order to find a pretext for manipulation”. issues. is related to Taiwan and threatens China’s sovereignty and security. “ State Department spokesman Ned Price told Reuters that the strait was an international waterway with offshore freedoms guaranteed under international law. He reiterated US concerns about “China’s aggressive rhetoric and coercion on Taiwan” and said the United States would “continue to fly, sail and operate where international law permits, including through Taiwan Strait “. Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou called China’s position a “mistake” and said US naval freedom exercises were supported by Taiwan. Tong Zhao, a senior fellow at Beijing-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said China’s recent activity had raised concerns about its preparations to take control of Taiwan or restrict freedom of movement, but it was “very early to draw conclusions “. “China, which decides to challenge the United States, is now showing a stronger Chinese determination to defend and advance its prospects for the Taiwan issue, even if it could lead to greater tensions with the United States,” Zhao said. Steve Tsang, of the Soas Institute, said the change in language reflects the increasingly centralized approach to the way Xi’s government thought and acted. “It’s not good for peace and security in the region or in the world,” Tsang said. “It is possible that not much will change in practice, which means that foreign warships crossing these international waters will be monitored but not interfered with. “But it could also lead to a more aggressive approach with Chinese warships or planes trying to warn foreign warships, unless the latter obtain prior permission from the Chinese authorities – which would almost certainly not happen.” Additional mention by Chi Hui Lin
