PLA conducts drills around Taiwan

Drills: Resolve for reunification ‘rock solid’

A Navy vessel participates in joint military exercises on Tuesday to close in on the island of Taiwan from multiple directions. The drills, which also involved the PLA's Ground Force, were conducted in areas around Taiwan Island. (PHOTO PROVIDE TO CHINA DAILY)

The Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army conducted joint exercises involving land, sea, air and rocket forces around the island of Taiwan on Tuesday, stressing that this is a "just and necessary action" to defend national sovereignty and maintain national unity.

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, an Eastern Theater Command spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday morning that the command has deployed its ground, naval, air, rocket and other forces from multiple directions to approach the island as part of the operation.

The drills mainly focus on sea-air combat readiness patrols, battlefield dominance, strikes on sea and ground targets, blockades of key areas and sea routes and other tactics, in order to assess the forces' joint operational capabilities, he said.

Meng Xiangqing, a professor at PLA National Defense University, said the joint drills have sent a very clear signal — a stern warning and a powerful deterrent to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces — and he added that the exercises were "reasonable, justifiable and lawful".

Meng noted that comprehensive control includes command of the sea, air, land and information.

"The purpose of these exercises is to test the joint operational capabilities of the theater command's forces in real combat scenarios," he said.

Since 2022, the PLA has conducted at least three previous large-scale military exercises in areas near the island.

Zhang Chi, a scholar at PLA National Defense University, pointed out that in the series of exercises and training maneuvers in areas near Taiwan Island, the PLA has continuously advanced deeper and closer to the island of Taiwan.

"That has helped the PLA become more familiar with and adept at navigating the battlefield environment in the Taiwan Strait," he said.

"I believe this largely indicates that the exercises we are witnessing around the Taiwan Strait have become a new normal. For the PLA and its Eastern Theater Command, these exercises are now everyday business."

The China Coast Guard said on Tuesday morning that it sent its ships to conduct law-enforcement patrols surrounding Taiwan Island.

Zhu Anqing, spokesman for the China Coast Guard's East China Sea Bureau, said: "Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China. These operations are concrete actions to exercise legitimate jurisdiction and control over Taiwan Island in accordance with the one-China principle."

In addition, the coast guard of East China's Fujian province organized vessel formations to conduct patrols in waters surrounding the islands of Dongyin and Wuqiu on Tuesday, the China Coast Guard said in a news release.

The drills carried out identification and verification, inspection and capture, and control and expulsion operations against unwarranted vessels, it said.

Fu Zhengnan, from the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, said: "With the support and coordination of PLA ships and aircraft, the coast guard fleet conducted law enforcement patrols in waters around islands such as Wuqiu and Dongyin, which the Taiwan authorities claim as restricted areas. These actions continue to consolidate the new normal of managing the island of Taiwan in accordance with the one-China principle."

In addition, Fu said these drills fully demonstrate that the PLA's military options for deterring "Taiwan independence" separatist forces are becoming increasingly diverse.

"They also prove that regardless of the guise, name or method of concealment, 'Taiwan independence' leads only to a dead end," he emphasized.

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Tuesday that the PLA's joint exercises are a resolute punishment for the "reckless provocations" of the pursuit of "Taiwan independence" by island authorities led by Lai Ching-te.

"Lai stubbornly adheres to a separatist stance on 'Taiwan independence', brazenly labels the Chinese mainland as a 'hostile external force', and proposes so-called '17 strategies' to provocatively challenge the mainland, incite anti-China sentiment, obstruct cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, and escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait," she said.

These actions clearly demonstrate that Lai is a destroyer of cross-Strait peace and a creator of crisis in the Taiwan Strait, fully exposing his ugly stance against peace, exchanges, democracy and humanity, Zhu added.

"Taiwan independence" means war, and pursuing "Taiwan independence" means pushing the people of Taiwan into a dangerous situation of military conflict, the spokeswoman warned.

"Our resolve to solve the Taiwan question and achieve national reunification is rock solid, and our capability is indestructible," she said, underscoring that "we will not allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from China, nor will we leave any room for any form of 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities".

At a regular news conference on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, "Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is purely an internal matter of China, not subject to any external interference."

The Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan stubbornly adhere to a "Taiwan independence" stance and attempt to split the nation with external support, which is doomed to fail, he said.

"The historical trend of China's eventual and inevitable reunification is unstoppable," Guo said.