The two-day maneuvers take place in the Taiwan Strait, to the north, south and east of the island, as well as in areas around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin, and involve the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the rocket force of the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command.
Coded under the name Joint Sword-2024A, “these exercises serve as a strong punishment for the separatist actions of those who advocate Taiwan’s independence and as a stern warning against interference and provocation by external forces,” said the spokesman for the Command, Li Xi, quoted by the Xinhua agency.
The war trials focus on sea-air combat readiness patrolling, capturing comprehensive battlefield control and joint precision strikes on key targets, the spokesperson explained.
In addition, he added, they contemplate patrolling with ships and aircraft in the vicinity of areas around Taiwan and integrated operations inside and outside the island chain to test the joint real combat capabilities of the Command’s forces.
Earlier this week, the news agency itself deplored in a comment what it defined as inflammatory rhetoric contained in the inauguration speech given by the new president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te.
“What was said by Lai, who turned his speech into a de facto manifesto for Taiwan independence, reveals his true intention to sacrifice peace and stability across the Strait for his own desire for power,” the text noted.
Lai, he added, not only defended the two-state theory, but even went so far as to label the Chinese mainland as a foreign country, in addition to maliciously stoking fears of an alleged military threat from there.
The alleged independence of Taiwan is a countercurrent of history and constitutes the most dangerous alteration of the status quo between both sides of the strait and the greatest disturbance of regional peace, he emphasized before pointing out that its search will only lead to a dead end.
The commentary stressed that the realization of complete national reunification cannot be contained by any force and suggested the island’s citizens unite with their compatriots on the mainland, resolutely safeguard the common homeland and guide cross-strait relations again through the correct road.
Beijing’s consistent stance that the one-China principle underpins peace across the Taiwan Strait was also reiterated by Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a visit to Kazakhstan.
The Chinese Foreign Minister insisted that this pillar cannot be violated. It doesn’t matter how the political situation in Taiwan transforms. That will not change the historical and legal facts that there is only one China in the world and that the island is part of it.
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