China holds day-long military drills surrounding Taiwan to 'warn separatists'

Taipei: China on Monday conducted day-long large-scale military drills aimed at surrounding Taiwan by deploying an aircraft carrier group, besides army, navy, air force and missile forces, in an apparent response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's remarks that Beijing has no authority to represent Taipei.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) said on Monday evening that it had wrapped up its blockade drills surrounding the island, fully testing the integrated joint operation capabilities of its troops.

The PLA has been periodically conducting such drills to showcase its military might.

Earlier, the PLA Eastern Theatre Command dispatched its troops of army, navy, air force and rocket force to conduct joint military drills code-named "Joint Sword-2024B" in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan Island, Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson of the Command, said in a statement.

"The drill also serves as a stern warning to the separatist acts of "Taiwan independence" forces. It is a legitimate and necessary operation for safeguarding national sovereignty and national unity," Captain Li said.

He also said China's Liaoning aircraft carrier task group has been deployed to conduct joint drills with other forces of the PLA “in the waters and airspace to the east of Taiwan Island".

He said that the drills are to test the joint operation capabilities of all services and arms around the island.

The Chinese Defence Ministry said the drills focusing on key-port blockade, seizure of regional control, and assault on maritime and ground targets in areas to the north and south of Taiwan Island, are a test of the PLA troops' capabilities of multi-domain collaboration, systems confrontation and precision strikes on key targets.

The drills were in response to assertions by Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te in his speech on the National Day of Taiwan four days ago, asserting that the two sides “are not subordinate to each other” and Beijing had no authority to represent the island.

Lai, who has been firm in asserting Taiwan’s independence after his election in May, said the two sides of the strait should have equal status, and that he was committed to peace across the strait.

China claims the stringed island of Taiwan as part of its mainland and President Xi Jinping has been vocal in recent years to unify it with “motherland”.

In Taipei, the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has denounced China's military threats and urged Beijing to pull back and immediately cease its military provocations.

“MOFA solemnly denounces China and urges it to neither use false pretexts aimed at justifying disagreement and strife nor become a troublemaker that undermines regional peace and stability," it said.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said "Taiwan independence" is incompatible with peace across the Taiwan Strait, and the provocations of "Taiwan independence" separatist forces will inevitably be countered.

Asked about the PLA drills around Taiwan, Mao told a media briefing here that China has always been committed to maintaining regional peace and stability, which is evident to countries in the region.

Taiwan is an integral part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is China's internal affair, which brooks no outside interference, Mao said.

About the US calls for restraint by China, she said if the United States truly cares about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the prosperity of the region, it should abide by the one-China principle and earnestly act on its leaders' commitment to not supporting "Taiwan independence," stop arming Taiwan and stop sending any wrong signals to separatist forces of "Taiwan independence."