China holds live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait
BEIJING: China held live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait yesterday but Taipei dismissed the exercises as “routine” after expected largescale naval manoeuvres failed to materialise.
Beijing had announced the drills last week, further ramping up tensions following stark warnings against any independence moves by the self-ruled island which China sees as its sovereign territory.
Vessels had been told to avoid a certain area off the Chinese mainland’s coast, triggering speculation that a flotilla spearheaded by China’s sole aircraft carrier would take part in the exercise.
But Taiwan’s defence ministry said that the drills only involved land-based artillery conducting “routine” shooting practice.
Beijing has yet to release any information about the drill, which Chinese authorities had said would run until midnight, without giving
China deliberately released fake information to exaggerate it, to make it sound huge when in fact it’s small. Chen Chung-chi ,Taiwanese defence ministry spokesman
any details about which military equipment or personnel would be involved.
“China deliberately released fake information to exaggerate it, to make it sound huge when in fact it’s small,” Taiwanese defence ministry spokesman Chen Chungchi told AFP.
“It’s the cheapest way of verbal intimidation and sabre-rattling,” Chen said, adding that such exercises had been held every year since 2007, except for last year.
The drills coincided with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to Swaziland, one of Taipei’s few remaining international allies.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office director Liu Jieyi had said Monday that the drill was “an action to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our motherland”.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated since Tsai came to office in May 2016, largely because she has not embraced the position that Taiwan and China are one country.
China sees the democratic ally governed island as a renegade part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out reunification by force.
Beijing has also been angered by Washington’s arms sales to Taipei. China protested last month after President Donald Trump signed a bill allowing top-level US officials to travel to Taiwan.