Chinese military launches drills around Taiwan as a 'warning' after a top island official went to U.S.
The Hindu
China warns Taiwan of "irrational, provocative moves" with military drills as a "stern warning" over "separatists and foreign forces" colluding. The drills involved coordination of vessels and planes, testing forces' "actual combat capabilities."
The Chinese military launched drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a “stern warning” over what it called collusion between “separatists and foreign forces,” its Defence Ministry said, days after the island's vice president stopped over in the United States.
Taiwanese Vice President William Lai's recent trip to Paraguay to reinforce relations with his government's last diplomatic partner in South America included stops in San Francisco and New York City. The mainland’s ruling Communist Party claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and says it has no right to conduct foreign relations.
A spokesperson for China’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a brief statement that the military exercises involved the coordination of vessels and planes and their ability to seize control of air and sea spaces.
It was also testing the forces' “actual combat capabilities," Shi Yi said. The drills in the waters and airspace to the north and southwest of Taiwan were a warning over provocations from pro-Taiwan independence forces and foreign forces, he added.
The command released footage of the drills online that showed soldiers running, as well as military boats and planes.
State media CCTV reported that missile-equipped boats and fighter jets were involved in the operation and that units worked together to simulate the surrounding of Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that its forces detected 45 Chinese military aircraft and nine vessels around the island between 6 a.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday. It said 27 of the planes, including Su-30, J-10 and J-11 fighters, crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait — an unofficial boundary considered a buffer between the island and the mainland — and entered the island's air defence identification zone.