China Launches Military Drills around Taiwan

By Staff, Agencies

China launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday after a stopover in the United States by the island's vice president, William Lai, sparked anger in Beijing.

The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army “launched joint air and sea patrols and military exercises of the navy and air force around the island of Taiwan,” state media outlet Xinhua quoted military spokesperson Shi Yi as saying.

China considers Taiwan as part of its territory and has pledged to take it one day, by force if necessary.

Xinhua said the drills, the scale of which was not immediately known, were meant to test the PLA's ability “to seize control of air and sea spaces and fight in real combat conditions”.

They were also intended to serve as “a stern warning to the collusion of 'Taiwan independence' separatists with foreign elements and their provocations,” it added.

This comes as Lai, who is the frontrunner in Taiwan’s presidential election next year, stopped in New York and returned via San Francisco on a trip to Paraguay, one of a dwindling number of nations that diplomatically recognize Taipei.

China on Saturday called Lai a “troublemaker” and vowed to take “resolute measures... to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Taiwan on Saturday said it strongly condemned “such irrational and provocative behavior” and said it would dispatch “appropriate forces” to respond “with practical actions.”

“Conducting a military exercise this time under a pretext not only does not help the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, but also highlights [China’s] militaristic mentality and confirms the hegemonic nature of its military expansion,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.