ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has kicked off a series of joint exercises around Taiwan designed to serve as a “punishment” and “warning” to separatist forces seeking independence of the island, it announced in a press release on Thursday.
The drills will coordinate the PLA’s army, navy, air force and rocket force in the Taiwan Strait, taking place in several directions around Taiwan and its outlying islands on Thursday and Friday, military spokesperson Li Xi declared.
The exercises will focus on combined sea-air combat-readiness patrol, capture of battlefield control, and joint precision strikes on key targets, Li stated. The drills will practice closing in on areas around Taiwan, as well as operations inside and outside the island chain to test real combat capabilities, he said.
The Chinese military said the exercise is designed to serve as a “strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” as well as a “stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces.”
In response, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry deployed aircraft, navy vessels, and coastal missile systems to monitor the PLA forces, condemning the surprise drills as jeopardizing regional stability.
Taiwan was the last refuge of the nationalist forces during the Chinese Civil War in the 1940s, and has since remained de facto autonomous, referring to itself as the Republic of China, and allied with the US. Beijing seeks the peaceful reintegration of the island, but makes the provision that it could use military force should Taipei officially declare independence.
In a speech on Monday, the newly-inaugurated Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, urged Beijing to “face the reality of the Republic of China’s existence” and “engage in cooperation with the legal government chosen by Taiwan’s people.” He added that Taipei and Beijing are “not subordinate to each other.”
Beijing has slammed the statements as provocative and separatist. Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, accused Lai of “collusion” and acting as a “pawn” to external forces, promising to “counteract and punish them.”
Japan reacts
Japan has issued a complaint against the Chinese ambassador to Tokyo after the envoy warned that the Japanese people will be “brought into the fire” if their government plots to support a Taiwanese independence movement.
“We consider it to be extremely inappropriate for an ambassador stationed in Tokyo to make such a comment, and we have immediately lodged a severe protest against it,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Wednesday.
Hayashi added that Japan’s government has consistently called for issues surrounding Taiwan to be resolved peacefully, through dialogue. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important not only for the security of our country, but also for the stability of the international community as a whole,” he said.
Hayashi made his comments in response to a warning issued by Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao, who spoke on Monday about a Japanese delegation’s attendance at the inauguration of newly elected Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. “Once the country of Japan is tied to the tanks plotting to split China, the Japanese people will be brought into the fire,” Wu told an audience that included former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Chinese officials have called Lai a “dangerous separatist” and have bristled at visits by US lawmakers and other foreign politicians to Taipei. Beijing has vowed to reunify with Taiwan – a self-governing island that it regards as a breakaway province – by force, if necessary.
Sino-Japanese tensions have escalated in recent months. The Chinese government summoned the Japanese and Philippine ambassadors in April, after their leaders attended a summit in Washington and accused Beijing of “dangerous and aggressive behavior” in the South China Sea.
The latest row comes just days before Chinese, Japanese and South Korean leaders are scheduled to hold a trilateral summit in Seoul. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo stressed the importance of Sino-Japanese relations, saying, “the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests. It is related to the political foundation of China-Japan relations and the basic trust between the two countries. It is an insurmountable red line.”
The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry praised Hayashi’s rebuke of the Chinese ambassador on Wednesday, saying it “welcomes the international community’s attention to the situation in the Taiwan Strait and any actions that will help maintain regional peace.” (RT/AT Network)
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