Dozens of ships were forced to avoid the Taiwan Strait, through which nearly 50% of the world’s container traffic passes and 88% of the largest ships. Problems also for air transport. According to Tokyo, four missiles fired by the Chinese yesterday flew over the Taiwanese capital.
Taipei () – The Chinese military exercises around Taiwan are creating problems for world commercial traffic, as many experts anticipated. The maneuvers in Beijing, which began yesterday in response to a recent visit to the Taiwanese capital by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have effectively closed the Taiwan Strait.
To avoid the areas of operation indicated by the Chinese government, dozens of ships of different types had to change course and pass through the east of Taiwan, which means facing a longer route. The increase in distance, added to the costs of insurance in a crisis situation, increased the price of transport, already fueled by inflation worldwide. The same goes for air traffic.
According to calculations by Bloomberg, in the first seven months of the year nearly half of the world’s container trade passed through the Taiwan Strait; the figure for the largest ships is 88%. The interruption of the maritime communication route also threatens China’s interests, since most Chinese exporters use this route to get their cargoes to the US and Europe.
Observers point out that what is happening these days is just a sample of the problems that global supply chains will have in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a scenario potentially worse than the effects of the war in Ukraine and the repeated closures. in China by Covid -19.
At this time, Chinese military operations near Taiwan continue to be intense. Dozens of Beijing’s warships and warplanes have crossed the “median line” that informally divides the strait between Taiwanese and Chinese territory. It is very likely that the Chinese regime has decided to change the status quo of the last decades, as a way of affirming that the Taiwan Strait is China’s sovereign territory and not an international space.
Meanwhile, Tokyo claims that four of the five ballistic missiles fired yesterday by the Beijing Armed Forces in Japan’s exclusive economic zone passed over Taipei first. It would be the first time that this has happened, although the Chinese Foreign Ministry does not confirm the statements of the Japanese authorities.
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