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Taiwan’s military to stage live-fire drills aimed at PLA attack from the sea
- Coastal exercises will include manoeuvres at outlying island of Matsu, fisheries agency says
- Drills to take place throughout June, starting from Wednesday
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Lawrence Chungin Taipei
The Taiwanese military will conduct a series of live-fire drills along its coast and at the defence outpost of Matsu this month, simulating the repulsion of amphibious and naval attacks from the People’s Liberation Army.
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The exercises are scheduled to start just two weeks after the PLA launched large-scale war games around Taiwan as strong “punishment” for Taiwanese separatist forces seeking “independence”.
The Taiwanese drills also follow a fresh warning from Beijing’s new defence minister, Dong Jun, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday that “whoever dares to split Taiwan from China will be crushed to pieces and invite their destruction”.
Beijing views the self-governed island as its territory that must be brought under its control, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as independent, but are opposed to unilateral change of the cross-strait status quo by force.
Cross-strait relations, already strained over the past eight years, deteriorated further after Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te took office on May 20. In his inaugural speech, Lai insisted that Taiwan and the mainland “are not subordinate to each other”, a statement Beijing saw as crossing a red line.
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On May 23, the PLA launched a two-day blockade drill, surrounding Taiwan from the north, south, and east, as well as its outlying islands, including the defence outposts of Matsu and Quemoy – also known as Kinmen.
03:11
Mainland China launches PLA blockade around Taiwan, 3 days after William Lai speech
Mainland China launches PLA blockade around Taiwan, 3 days after William Lai speech
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