China Launches Live-Fire Drills Near Taiwan
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIJING (Worthy News) – China launched live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday or ordered the army to prepare for war as U.S. and Canadian warships sailed through the troubled waterway.
Beijing made clear that the military exercises come after two days earlier the USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, and HMCS Vancouver, a Halifax-class frigate, transitted through the strait.
The Chinese government called it a “disturbing the situation and undermining peace and stability” in the region.
Yet the U.S. Pacific Command said Sunday that the ships were on a “routine Taiwan Strait transit through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”
Cross-strait tensions have heightened in recent weeks after Beijing conducted blockade drills around Taiwan, the self-ruled island.
Those exercises, code-named Joint Sword-2024B, followed a speech by the democratically-ruled island’s President Lai Ching-te on October 10 to commemorate the founding of the Republic of China in 1912.
‘PROVOKING HOSTILITY’
Lai said that Beijing “has no authority” to represent democratically-governed Taiwan and that the two sides “are not subordinate to each other.”
This quickly drew criticisms from Beijing, which accused Lai of “provoking hostility and confrontation.”
Four days later, China’s Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) carried out Joint Sword-2024B in what it called “a warning against ‘separatist acts’”.
China has refused to recognize Taiwan’s independence and has not ruled out force to annex the territory.
The one-day drill, which involved its navy, air force, rocket force, and coastguard, drew concerned calls for restraint from the United States, Japan, Britain, and the European Union.
China’s latest live-fire exercises occur in a limited area in the waters near Niushan Island from 9 am to 1 pm, according to Chinese officials.
STRATEGIC LOCATION
Located strategically east of Pingtan Island, Niushan Island is only 165 kilometers (102 miles) from Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.
Observers said it is also the closest point between mainland China and the main island of Taiwan, hosting China’s giant lighthouse in the region.
Ships would be prohibited from entering the area, China warned, a move that was likely to be closely watched by the West.
Earlier, China’s President Xi Jinping said the military should “comprehensively strengthen training and preparation for war, (and) ensure troops have solid combat capabilities,” Worthy News reported Monday.
Xi stressed in remarks shared by Chinese state media that soldiers should “enhance their strategic deterrent and combat capability. ”
A possible armed confrontation between Taiwan and China would add to a long menu of armed conflicts requiring Western attention, ranging from fighting in the Middle East to Russia’s war in Ukraine.