- Chinese forces achieved “expected objectives” during a two-day drill around Taiwan and are ready to take further action if provoked.
- China considers Taiwan its territory and carried out the drills after President Lai Ching-te took office.
- Taiwan has warned that Beijing is trying to “take away” Taiwanese territory piece by piece with the drills and other pressure tactics and create a new normal for the Li Ming regime.
A Chinese defence ministry spokesman said on Thursday that Chinese troops achieved their “expected objectives” during two days of drills around Taiwan last week but were prepared to take further action if provoked.
China, which considers democratically ruled Taiwan its own territory, carried out two days of military drills around the island following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing calls a “separatist.”
Thursday’s comments came hours after Taiwan warned that China was trying to “take away” Taiwan’s territory “piece by piece” and create a new normal with drills and other means to put pressure on the Li Ming government.
China launches large-scale military drills around Taiwan as “punishment” for election of new president
The joint drills by the People’s Liberation Army are “a measure to contain Taiwan’s aggressive independence and separatist activities and a warning against foreign interference,” Wu Qian said in Beijing.
A man looks at a giant screen showing news footage of China’s military drills around the island of Taiwan, in Beijing, May 24, 2024. A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday that Chinese forces achieved “expected targets” during two days of drills around Taiwan last week but were prepared to take further action if provoked. (Reuters/Tingshu Wang/File Photo)
“We achieved our anticipated goal,” he said at a news conference.
“Even if the external situation becomes chaotic and changes, I am confident we can easily handle it all,” Wu added, vowing the military would take “stronger countermeasures” against any further moves by “separatist” forces.
While the exercises have officially ended, China’s military activities are not over yet, with Taiwan saying on Wednesday that Chinese military aircraft and warships had conducted “joint combat readiness patrols.”
“The Chinese Communist Party’s pressure on Taiwan is all-encompassing, especially in diplomatic terms,” Foreign Minister Lam Ka-long told reporters in parliament.
Lawmakers meet with Taiwan’s new president, highlighting Chinese intimidation and ‘blatant aggression’
Taiwan faces significant obstacles in its bid to take part in events hosted by global organisations, including being denied entry to a key World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting this week, the minister added.
Taiwan has been barred from most international organisations under pressure from China, which says it is one of its provinces with no statehood – a position strongly denied by the Taipei government.
Lin pointed to other actions by China, including unilaterally opening new air routes near Taiwan-controlled islands off China’s coast and sending coast guard vessels to Taiwan’s east coast during drills last week.
“The Chinese Communist Party keeps changing the status quo,” he said. “They’re creating a new normal, pressuring us at every step, bit by bit trying to erode and annex (us).”
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At a regular press conference on Wednesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office reiterated its denunciation of Lai as a dangerous person who supports formal Taiwan independence and warned of continued Chinese military activity.
Lai has repeatedly requested talks with China but has been rejected, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide Taiwan’s future.
China says Taiwan is purely an internal issue.
Lin said stability is an issue for everyone.
“The cross-strait issue is not just a strait issue, it is a regional and even global issue,” he added.
Taipei maintains that Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China, whose government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists, who established the People’s Republic of China.
