China and Taiwan: Around the self-governing island democracy where a new president took office this week, China was conducting military drills, so Taiwan scrambled jets and alerted missile, naval, and ground forces on Thursday.
The military of China said that its two-day drills around Taiwan were retaliation against separatist groups vying for independence. The People’s Liberation Army almost daily sends navy ships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other areas surrounding the island to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and try to intimidate its people, who firmly support their de facto independence. Beijing claims the island is part of China’s national territory.
“Regional peace and stability have been jeopardised by China’s illogical provocation,” the island’s Defence Ministry declared. It declared that while Taiwan will not actively search for confrontations, it will not avoid them.
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The ministry claimed that this pretext for military drills demonstrates its hegemonic nature at heart and does not promote peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
According to Business standard, President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan vowed to neither cower nor antagonize the mainland Communist Party leadership in his inaugural speech on Monday and urged Beijing to cease its military intimidation.
Lai has declared that he wants to have talks with Beijing while preserving Taiwan’s present situation and avoiding confrontations that would involve the United States, the island’s principal supporter, and other regional allies like Australia and Japan.
Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army stated on its official Weibo account that the land, navy, and air exercises around Taiwan are intended to test the PLA units’ navy and air capabilities as well as their joint strike capabilities to hit targets and take control of the battlefield.
The declaration noted that this is also a severe message to outside powers for meddling and provocation as well as a potent punishment for the separatist groups pursuing independence.
The PLA also made available a map of the planned exercise area, which includes outlying islands like Matsu and Kinmen that are closer to the Chinese mainland than Taiwan and encircles Taiwan’s main island at five points.
