Taiwan's Defense Ministry detected 71 Chinese aircraft
and nine naval vessels around the island as of 4 p.m. TST on Saturday,
and 45 of the warplanes had crossed the median line of the Taiwan
Strait.
The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army oversaw these operations, and they were held in the
waters and airspace to the north, south, and east of Taiwan, Japan Times
reports.
- The drills are a warning to
the Taiwan Independence separatist forces' collusion and provocation
with external parties, and it is a necessary action to safeguard
national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- The Chinese
military used long-range rocket artilleries, naval destroyers, missile
boats, air force fighters, electronic warfare aircraft, and conventional
missiles in these drills.
- China claimed President Tsai
Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as an excuse to
conduct the military exercises.
- The latest military exercises threaten "regional peace, stability, and security," according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry.
- Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island.
- These new military exercises by China followed French President Macron and EC President von der Leyen's visits to China.
- A 12-day goodwill visit to China by former Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou commenced on Friday and was the first by a former Taiwanese leader.
