China’s military begins live-fire exercises near Taiwan. file | Photo courtesy: Reuters
China’s military launched live-fire drills near Taiwan on Tuesday (Oct 22, 2024), keeping up pressure on the self-ruled island after holding large-scale exercises. President Xi Jinping Called upon the soldiers to be ready for war.
China’s Communist Party has never ruled the island, but it claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not abandon it. use of force To bring it under your control.
This month it sent aircraft and warships around the island in what Beijing called a “strong warning against the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces.”
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On Monday, the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) in the eastern island of Pingtan announced there would be “gun firing” in a limited area close to the Chinese mainland, about 105 km (66 miles) from Taiwan.
The MSA said they would begin at 9:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) and last for four hours over an area of about 150 square km (60 square miles).
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Pingtan is the closest point to mainland China to the main island of Taiwan. Marine officials did not say which Chinese force would conduct the live firing, or what its purpose would be.
In response to the exercises, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it was closely monitoring China’s “military activities and intentions”.
Taipei said the drills could be part of Beijing’s “strategy to increase its threats combined with mobility across the Taiwan Strait.”
Premier Cho Jung-tae described them as “a threat undermining regional peace and stability.”
passing ships
Over the weekend, an American and a Canadian warship passed through the 180km Taiwan Strait, part of a routine route by Washington and its allies aimed at cementing its status as an international waterway.
Beijing condemned the passage as disrupting “peace and stability” in the strait.
China sent a record number of military aircraft as well as warships and coast guard ships to surround Taiwan on October 14 in the fourth round of major exercises in the region in just two years.
Taiwan deployed the military and put remote islands on high alert in response to the exercises.
Beijing has increased military pressure on Taipei in recent years, deploying warplanes and other military aircraft as well as ships around the island on an almost daily basis.
Following its “Joint Sword-2024B” exercise, its military vowed to never abandon the use of force to retake the island.
In a visit to a brigade of the Chinese military’s rocket forces in the wake of those exercises, President Xi urged them to strengthen their preparations for war, state media said.
published – October 22, 2024 10:41 am IST