While Taiwan accuses Beijing of preparing for the invasion, it started its simulation of defending the island with real artillery munitions after China’s massive military maneuvers around its territory.
Taiwan Eighth Corps spokesperson Lou Woei-jye confirmed that the exercises have begun in southern Pingtung County. The maneuvers took less than an hour.
After the last shot, Taiwanese soldiers shouted “mission accomplished”.
China conducted the largest military exercises in history around Taiwan last week in response to a visit to the island by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a top Washington official who has traveled there for decades.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said China was using air and sea maneuvers to “prepare the invasion of Taiwan”.
“China’s real intention is to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and in the region,” Wu said.
The Chinese Armed Forces announced the continuation of exercises with air and naval units this Tuesday.
Image: REUTERS/Ann Wang
The People’s Liberation Army Eastern Command said in a statement that it is conducting training exercises focusing on joint blockades and joint support operations around the island.
A self-governing island, Taiwan has lived for decades with a constant threat of invasion from China, which sees the region as a province of the country that must one day be recaptured, including by force if necessary.
Wu said China is conducting large-scale military exercises and launching a campaign of disinformation and economic coercion to undermine public morale in Taiwan, along with missiles.
Image: REUTERS/Ann Wang
The military said the Taiwan maneuvers, which will also take place on Thursday, will involve the mobilization of hundreds of soldiers and 40 howitzers.
Lou said on Monday that the exercises were pre-planned and were not a response to China’s maneuvers.
The democratically administered island often organizes simulations of a Chinese invasion. Last month, Taiwan taught how to prevent attacks from the sea during major exercises.
Image: REUTERS/Ann Wang
Biden: I’m not worried
The anti-landing exercises came after China extended naval and air maneuvers around Taiwan on Monday, although the US government said it did not expect any escalation from Beijing.
President Joe Biden said, “I’m not worried but I’m worried they’re making such a fuss. But I don’t think they’re going to do more than they did.”
Taipei insists that no Chinese aircraft or ships entered its territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles from shore) during the Beijing maneuvers.
But the Chinese military released a video last week in which a pilot filmed the coastline and mountains from his cockpit to show how he approached the island.
Chinese media claimed that ballistic missiles were fired at the Taiwanese capital during the exercises.
The scale and intensity of Beijing’s maneuvers, and the suspension of cooperation with Washington in areas such as climate or defence, have sparked outrage in the United States and other democracies.
Analysts said the Chinese exercises showed how Beijing’s increasingly daring military could impose a comprehensive blockade against the island.
The Chinese government has defended the country’s “hard, strong and appropriate” stance against US provocation.
“We are only sending a warning to the perpetrators,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin, before promising the country “will definitively crush the Taiwanese authorities’ illusion of achieving independence through the United States.”
source: Noticias
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