The so-called “justice” behind the military exercise launched by China yesterday around Taiwan is absurd, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday launched a military exercise named “Justice Mission 2025” around Taiwan, which it said was meant to serve as a “stern warning to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces” and “external interference forces.”
The exercise is being conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan, focusing on “sea-air combat readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, naval blockade of key ports and areas, as well as all-
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
dimensional deterrence outside the island chain,” a senior PLA officer said in a statement yesterday.
The MAC yesterday said the actions of the Chinese Communist Party contradict its proclaimed “global peace initiative,” highlighting its hegemonic nature and intent to change the “status quo.”
The MAC said that the military exercises were launched one day after the Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum, indicating that China was engaging in “a carefully orchestrated two-pronged strategy.”
“On one hand, it talks about getting closer, while on the other it resorts to military intimidation,” the MAC said.
Beijing is a “troublemaker” and a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it said, adding the PLA’s show of force was unacceptable to the people of Taiwan and to the international community.
The Twin-City Forum is an annual event that has been held since 2010 to promote city-to-city exchanges between Taipei and Shanghai, with the two cities alternating as host.
At the 16th edition of the forum on Saturday and Sunday, host Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng (龔正) said exchanges between the two city governments could bring “a real sense of gain, happiness and security” to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, who are “bound by blood ties” and share “a common destiny.”
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who led a 120-member delegation to the forum, on Sunday said that he hoped the Taiwan Strait would come to be associated with “peace and prosperity,” not “crashing waves and howling winds.”
He did not elaborate on what he meant by “crashing waves and howling winds,” but it was seen as a likely reference to the heightened cross-strait tensions and scant official communication between the central governments on the two sides since 2016, when the Democratic Progressive Party returned to power.
In Taipei yesterday after the PLA announcement, Chiang repeated the phrase, saying he held a “very firm and consistent” stance of supporting “dialogue, not confrontation,” and hoped for “peace and prosperity,” not “crashing waves and howling winds.”
“Those in government have a responsibility to reduce risks, manage crises and safeguard the people’s safety,” he said, adding that he condemned “any actions that would escalate regional tensions.”
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
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