Taiwan ‘at ease’ over Chinese exercises
CHINA: China says it will hold live-fire military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, amid heightened tensions over increased American support for Taiwan’s government.
The announcement yesterday coincided with President Xi Jinping speaking on the importance of Chinese naval power while attending a massive fleet review in the South China Sea off the coast of Hainan province.
‘‘The mission of building a mighty people’s navy has never been more urgent than it is today,’’ Xi, dressed in army fatigues, said in remarks on the helicopter deck of one of China’s most advanced destroyers. ‘‘Strive to make the people’s navy a first-rate world navy.’’
State media said the fleet review included 48 ships, among them China’s sole operating aircraft carrier, Liaoning, along with 76 helicopters, fighter jets and bombers, and more than 10,000 personnel, making it the largest since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Taiwan’s defence ministry responded with a statement saying the exercises appeared to be part of scheduled annual drills, and that it was closely monitoring the situation and was fully capable of responding. ‘‘Citizens, please feel at ease,’’ the statement said.
While Beijing responded mildly to United States President Donald Trump’s early outreach to Taiwan’s independence-leaning government, recent developments have prompted a tougher response. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and says the sides, which separated during the Chinese civil war in 1949, must eventually be united, by force if necessary.
Despite a lack of formal ties, Washington is legally bound to respond to threats to Taiwan and is the island’s main supplier of foreign military hardware.
Chinese officials have denounced the recent passage of a US law encouraging more high-level contacts with Taiwan. China says the Taiwan Travel Act violates US commitments not to restore formal exchanges severed when Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. –AP