Taiwan island’s military acts in Kinmen ‘could escalate tension’
▶ Mainland to be prepared for any provocation: experts
The Chinese mainland is closely monitoring the actions of Taiwan island’s military around Kinmen. “If they provoke or cause trouble, daring to act rashly, they will surely face failure,” Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday in response to reports that Taiwan island will conduct live-fire drills in April at locations including Kinmen and Lieyu.
Experts said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are trying to shape a hard-line image to confront the mainland and please its secessionist voters and Washington, who like to see cross-Straits tension as this can serve its purpose to contain China. However, the DPP will not dare take any extreme action that could really cause military conflict, yet the mainland still needs to be prepared in case of an accident or mistake made by Taiwan’s military.
The DPP authorities recently announced that live-fire drills will be conducted in April in locations including Kinmen and Lieyu, sparking concern across the local community. The island’s military authorities claimed that these actions are part of routine and regular training exercises, without any specific targets.
Whether it is “routine training” or “targeted provocation,” the DPP authorities know better than anyone. The people in Kinmen, having personally experienced the transitions between peace and war, value peace and oppose war even more, Chen said.
The Fujian coast guard has been boosting its law enforcement patrols in the waters near Kinmen after the fatal February 14 boat incident.
Analysts from the mainland said that law-enforcement activities conducted by the Fujian coast guard are legitimate and necessary, and these will continue and even be further strengthened in relevant waters around Kinmen, and the coast guard will not be intimidated by any acts from the DPP.
Wang Zhenwei, director of the Institute of Politics under the Taiwan Research Center at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Taiwan DPP authorities are trying to shape a hawkish and hardline image by conducting military activities in Kinmen, to please the secessionist and anti-China groups on the island.
Li Fei, a professor at the Taiwan Research Center at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the Taiwan DPP authorities’ military drill is a provocation, and the US support behind them has encouraged the DPP to do so, as Washington wants the Chinese mainland to be trapped by the current Kinmen tension and spend more resources on it.