Chinese military launches drills around Taiwan as 'stern warning'

2023-08-19 11:45:49, Kosova & Bota CNA

Chinese military launches drills around Taiwan as 'stern warning'

The Chinese military drills are being held just days after Taiwan's Vice President William Lai visited the United States.

China's military launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a "stern warning" over what it called a collusion between "separatists and foreign forces", China's Defense Ministry said.

The Chinese military drills are being held just days after Taiwan's Vice President William Lai visited the United States.

Lai recently visited Paraguay to strengthen relations with his government's last diplomatic partner in South America. During the visit, he also stopped in San Francisco and New York.

China's ruling Communist Party claims that democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has no right to have relations with the outside world.

Shi Yi, spokesman for the Chinese military, said in a media release that the military exercises included the coordination of ships and aircraft, as well as their capabilities to take control of air and sea spaces.

The military also tested its combat capabilities and these exercises are also a warning against provocations by foreign forces and Taiwan's pro-independence forces, he added.

The Chinese military released footage of the exercise showing its soldiers running, as well as many ships and planes.

State media reported that missile-equipped ships and fighter jets were involved in the operation and that the units worked together to simulate a siege of Taiwan.

Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said on social network X, formerly known as Twitter, that its forces spotted 42 Chinese military aircraft as of 09:00 on Saturday. According to her, 26 of them crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial border between the two countries. Eight ships participated in the joint patrol as well.

Taiwan positioned warplanes and ships, as well as activated the ground-based missile defense system, in response to the exercises and closely monitored the situation, the Ministry said.

The Taiwanese ministry strongly condemned the exercises by the Chinese army, calling them "provocative and irrational". She said her army will be on alert in the face of threats from the Chinese military, adding that its forces have "the ability, determination and self-confidence to safeguard the nation's security".

Taiwan and China split in 1949, after a civil war that ended with the Communist Party in power in China.

The self-governing island has never been part of the People's Republic of China, but Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that it must retake even by force./ REL