The Chinese PLA’s warplanes flew over the “Taiwan Strait Line” recently, which has increased the tension across the strait. China’s state media Global Times published a commentary threatening that the mainland will not exclude the possibility of wiping out the targeted Taiwan military base.
The article said, “First of all, the ‘Strait Line’ is an imaginary psychological line that the mainland has never accepted.”
“The U.S.-Taiwan collusion is intensifying and the U.S. warships have crossed the Taiwan Strait three times this year. This is excessive. Many people tend to think that the military forcefully crossing the center line is the mainland’s response to the recent provocations of the U.S. and Taiwan. If the U.S. and Taiwan were to maintain restraint from now on, it would be a trivial matter for the PLA fighters to pass over the ‘Strait Line.’ However, if the U.S. and Taiwan . . . further show strength, then the tensions in the Taiwan Strait will inevitably escalate and lead to serious uncertainty.”
“As military tension in the Taiwan Strait intensifies, the possibility of sporadic military friction or limited military conflict will increase. For example, if the two sides exchanged fire and a plane were to be shot down, then, in the future, the possibility of the targeted removal of a certain military base that threatened the mainland could not be completely ruled out.
“Once the Taiwan Strait crisis is out of control, the mainland has enough will and capital to fight to the end and both the United States and Taiwan have their own scruples. The DPP is afraid that the regime will not survive. Washington is afraid that it will be involved in a major war and that Taiwan’s public opinion will be tired of turmoil and will no longer accept U.S. support.”
“The last thing we want to say is that the U.S. and Taiwan must be restrained because the Taiwan Strait crisis is already a gamble they can’t afford.”
Source: Global Times, April 2, 2019
http://mil.huanqiu.com/world/2019-04/14650724.html?agt=15422