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China Holds Large Naval, Air Force Exercises Around Taiwan As Warning Against Independence

Beijing said drills were a response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's refusal to concede to Beijing's demand that Taiwan acknowledge itself as China's part.

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By PTI

Published : 4 hours ago

China Holds Large Naval, Air Force Exercises Around Taiwan As Warning Against Independence
Representational image. (ANI)

Taipei: China held large-scale military exercises surrounding Taiwan and its outlying islands on Monday in what it called a warning against Taiwan's independence.

China's Defense Ministry said the drills were a response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's refusal to concede to Beijing's demands that Taiwan acknowledge itself as a part of the People's Republic of China under the rule of the Communist Party.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry called the drills a provocation and said its forces were prepared to respond. The PLA's Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Navy Senior Captain Li Xi said the navy, army air force, missile corps were all mobilised for the drills.

This is a major warning to those who back Taiwan independence and a signifier of our determination to safeguard our national sovereignty," Li said in a statement on the service's public media channel.

Taiwan was a Japanese colony before being unified with China at the end of World War II. It split away in 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island as Mao Zedong's Communists swept to power on the mainland.

Lai took office in May, continuing the eight-year rule of the Democratic Progressive Party that rejects China's demand that it recognises Taiwan as a part of China. China routinely states that Taiwan independence is a dead end and that annexation by Beijing is a historical inevitability.

Taipei: China held large-scale military exercises surrounding Taiwan and its outlying islands on Monday in what it called a warning against Taiwan's independence.

China's Defense Ministry said the drills were a response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's refusal to concede to Beijing's demands that Taiwan acknowledge itself as a part of the People's Republic of China under the rule of the Communist Party.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry called the drills a provocation and said its forces were prepared to respond. The PLA's Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Navy Senior Captain Li Xi said the navy, army air force, missile corps were all mobilised for the drills.

This is a major warning to those who back Taiwan independence and a signifier of our determination to safeguard our national sovereignty," Li said in a statement on the service's public media channel.

Taiwan was a Japanese colony before being unified with China at the end of World War II. It split away in 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island as Mao Zedong's Communists swept to power on the mainland.

Lai took office in May, continuing the eight-year rule of the Democratic Progressive Party that rejects China's demand that it recognises Taiwan as a part of China. China routinely states that Taiwan independence is a dead end and that annexation by Beijing is a historical inevitability.

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