USA and China hold military exercises

Following several clashes between Philippine and Chinese ships in the South China Sea, the USA and China launch military maneuvers in the region. At the same time, Chinese balloons are sighted there shortly before the elections in Taiwan. Security experts suspect an intimidation strategy.

Amid increasing tensions in the South China Sea, China and the USA have each held their own military maneuvers in the disputed sea area. Its navy and air force carried out two-day "routine patrols" in the sea that began on Wednesday, the Chinese military said.

The US, for its part, announced that a naval unit around the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "USS Carl Vinson" was conducting two days of joint exercises with the allied Philippine navy. A US statement said that the US Navy "regularly conducts such exercises to strengthen relationships with allied nations and partners". The Chinese army did not specify the exact location of the exercises or the number of soldiers or aircraft involved.

The maneuvers take place against the backdrop of weeks of disputes between China and the Philippines over maritime areas, which have recently intensified considerably. Among other things, there have been several clashes between ships from the two countries. Beijing blamed Manila for the increasing tensions.

China accuses the Philippines of breaking its word

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that Manila had "broken its word, changed its policy, violated China's sovereignty, and repeatedly engaged in provocations, triggering complex situations". According to a military expert, Beijing is trying to turn the South China Sea "into a waterway controlled by China and a strategic bottleneck for other countries". The South China Sea is "becoming an important defense zone for China," said Michael Raska from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

China claims practically the entire South China Sea for itself. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam also lay claim to parts of the sea area, which is of enormous strategic and economic importance to the littoral states. In 2016, the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague declared some of the Chinese claims to be unlawful.

However, Beijing does not recognize the ruling. China seized control of Scarborough Reef in 2012. Since then, Beijing has sent patrol boats to the area, which, according to information from Manila, prevent Filipino fishing boats from entering fish-rich waters in the lagoon. The Philippines operates outposts on several reefs and islands in the Spratly Islands. The area is about 200 kilometers from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1000 kilometers from China's closest landmass, Hainan Island.

New Chinese balloons over Taiwan

Shortly before the presidential and parliamentary elections, Taiwan's military once again detected several suspicious Chinese balloons over its territory. One of them flew from the west over the center of the East Asian island state on Wednesday, while the other two were discovered in the west and northwest over the sea, according to the Ministry of Defense.

Experts suspect that the balloons could be used to intimidate the population ahead of the election. The upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, in which 19.5 million people are expected to vote, will help decide the future relationship between Taipei and Beijing.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing has not yet responded to an inquiry as to what is intended with the balloons. The incidents are reminiscent of the overflight of a Chinese balloon in the USA last year. Washington accused Beijing of using the balloon for espionage. China, on the other hand, said that the balloon had drifted and was being used for weather measurements. The USA shot down the aircraft.

The recent discoveries over Taiwan could have something to do with the election on January 13. "China deliberately took advantage of the favorable southwest wind to launch such unpowered weather balloons more often and fly over Taiwan to intimidate the Taiwanese people before the election," said Su Tzu-yun of Taiwan's National Defense and Security Research Institute. Since Monday, Taiwan's military has sighted nine balloons over its territory. Five of them flew over the island.