The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China’s launch of another military drill around Taiwan, saying such actions are a “unilateral provocation” that destabilizes regional peace and stability.
China should immediately stop the irresponsible and provocative actions, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday announced the start of a new round of joint exercises around Taiwan by the army, navy and air force, which it said were approaching “from different directions.”
Code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” the exercises would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan proper, focusing on “sea-air combat readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, blockade of key ports and areas, as well as all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain,” PLA Eastern Theater Command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi (施毅) said in a statement.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
The PLA Eastern Theater Command also announced that today it would conduct live-fire drills in waters and airspace around Taiwan from 8am to 6pm, warning vessels and aircraft not to enter the designated drill areas.
The drills would be staged at five designated zones around Taiwan proper, including at sea and in the airspace north of Keelung, east of Taitung County, south of Pingtung County, southeast of Penghu County, and northwest of Taoyuan, the PLA said.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that parts of all five of the drill zones designated by the PLA for live-fire drills are within Taiwan’s territorial waters, calling the move “irresponsible.”
Illustration: Taipei Times
Deputy Chief of General Staff for Operations and Planning Lien Chih-wei (連志威) did not directly address the issue at a press briefing on how Taiwan would respond if the PLA were to fire live ammunition within its territorial waters — those within 12 nautical miles (22km) of the country’s shores — saying only that frontline soldiers would follow the military’s rules of engagement and respond appropriately.
The armed forces established an ad hoc emergency operations center following the PLA’s announcement, MND spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said.
“All members of our armed forces will remain highly vigilant and fully on guard, taking concrete action to defend the values of democracy and freedom,” the MND said.
Photo: CNA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) also condemned China’s military drills and called on Beijing to cease its unprovoked military provocative actions immediately.
Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait has become an international consensus, and it serves the vital interests of various nations, it said, adding that China’s constant unilateral disruption of the “status quo” in the Strait has severely damaged peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
“I think these drills are just meant to scare us,” said Lin Wei-ming, a 31-year-old teacher in Taipei. “Similar drills have happened before... The political side of things can only be handled by Taiwan’s current government and how they choose to respond.”
Photo: Tsai Hsin-Han, Reuters
“I think their [China’s] goal is, as they said: ‘Keep the island, not the people,’” said Stephanie Huang, a 56-year-old interior designer.
“They just want to save face by claiming Taiwan as part of their own country, but Taiwanese people don’t see it that way,” Huang said. “We are who we are; they are who they are.”
Shi said the military exercises are meant to serve as a “stern warning to Taiwanese independence separatist forces” and “external interference forces.”
The exercises are a “legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” he said.
This is China’s sixth major exercise since 2022 after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, and follows a rise in Chinese rhetoric over Beijing’s territorial claims after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
The exercises began 11 days after the US announced US$11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest-ever weapons package for the nation.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
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