China has been conducting military exercises around Taiwan for the third day. At the same time, the U.S. Navy called for a routine mission in the South China Sea.

It concerns at least 71 Chinese warplanes and nine ships that crossed the unofficial border between Taiwan and China,” says Eva Rammeloo, a former China journalist. NOS Radio 1 Journal. “That border is in the waters between the island and the mainland in the Taiwan Strait. Bombers and long-range missiles are also stationed there.”

The Chinese exercises echo Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the US last week. There he spoke with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy. China sees the visit as a provocation. The country considers Taiwan a renegade province to “reunite with the motherland”. Sanctions have already been imposed against US companies following the meeting.

Chinese state media are reporting the exercises again today. “The Chinese Ministry of Defense says it’s a roundup aimed at stopping Taiwanese freedom fighters and ‘external forces,'” says Rammeloo. “Experts see such an encirclement as a way to force the people to return the island to the Republic of China so that it can eventually be annexed.”

Whether that will eventually happen, says Rammeloo, is highly questionable. “President Xi Jinping has always said he will take the island back in the long run, but analysts disagree on whether China is ready for such a military takeover. A blockade seems more logical, which shows they can do it. So.”

According to Rammeloo, China is trying several ways to annex Taiwan. “From within, for example, by having better relations with the Kuomintang, the opposition party that is running against incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen in next year’s election.”

Thus America plays a major role in the conflict. “The Americans say they will help Taiwan if China attacks. We’ll have to wait and see how that goes,” says Rammeloo. “They already support Taiwan through military means. The US wants to strengthen the democracy barrier in the Pacific.”

The US Navy today conducted a mission with the destroyer USS Milius in the South China Sea. According to the United States, the mission to the Spratly Islands, west of the Philippines, falls within international maritime laws. Beijing says the region comes within its territorial sea and calls it an illegal operation.

Last month, China and the United States collided with the USS Milius off the Paracel Islands, an archipelago between Vietnam and the Philippines. According to the Americans, they have the right to travel there, but China again saw it as a provocation. Earlier this year there was also a jet incident between the countries over the South China Sea and the issue of so-called Chinese spy balloons over the US.