Chinese warships and fighter jets surrounded Taiwan this Friday (05/24/2024), on the second day of military maneuvers that, according to Beijing, seek to test its ability to “take power” on this autonomously governed island.
The Chinese army began two days of military exercises on Thursday around Taiwan, which on Monday celebrated the inauguration as president of Lai Ching-te, considered by Beijing a “dangerous separatist.”
Ships and planes of the People’s Liberation Army surrounded this island claimed by Beijing in what a Chinese diplomatic spokesman described as a “serious warning” to the “independence activists”, who will end up “bloodied.”
The device is part of a campaign to escalate China’s military pressure on this island with a democratic regime, with almost daily incursions by ships and planes in its surroundings and several large-scale exercises since 2022.
Chinese military spokesman Li Xi stated this Friday that the maneuvers test “the joint ability to seize power, jointly attack and control key territories.”
The Taiwan Coast Guard reported this Friday that four Chinese coast guard vessels had entered “restricted waters” in its territory, accompanied by two other support vessels in the vicinity.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of the civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims sovereignty over the island and does not rule out the use of force to take control.
The territory barely has official diplomatic relations with 12 countries in the world, but it has a government, army and its own currency and plays a crucial role in the world economy as the main producer of semiconductors.
rr (afp/reuters)
