China has simulated “precision joint strikes” against “key targets on the island of Taiwan and surrounding waters” as part of military drills around the island, Chinese state television channel CCTV reported on Sunday.
Dozens of army planes were deployed to “fly in the target airspace” and ground forces carried out “multi-target precision strike” exercises, it added.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had detected, on the second day of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait, nine Chinese warships and 58 aircraft around the island.
The ministry claimed it was monitoring the movements of the Chinese military through a “joint information and surveillance system”, stating that fighter jets and bombers were among the planes sighted since midday (05:00 in Lisbon).
The Chinese military exercises were announced and launched after Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday, to which Beijing vowed to respond with measures. “firm and energetic”.
On Monday, the exercises in the Taiwan Strait will include live fire, according to the authorities of Fujian, the Chinese province in the east of the country, located in front of the island.
The goal is to establish China’s ability to “seize control of the sea, airspace and information (…) to create a deterrence and total encirclement” of Taiwan, Chinese state television said on Saturday.
The moves “serve as a serious warning against collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and external forces, as well as provocative activities,” Chinese military spokesman Shi Yi warned.
China is unhappy with the rapprochement, in recent years, between the Taiwanese authorities and the US, which, despite the absence of official relations, provides the island with significant military support.
Washington recognized the People’s Republic of China in 1979 and, in theory, should not maintain any official contact with the Republic of China (official name of Taiwan), under the “principle of one China”, defended by Beijing.
China considers Taiwan, with 23 million inhabitants and autonomous since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, as a province to be reunified with the rest of the territory.
Source: TSF
