After the inauguration of the new Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te, China is turning the escalation screw. Supporters of independence on the breakaway island were threatened in military terms with bloodshed from Beijing, flanked by a large-scale military exercise around Taiwan.
“The independence forces will end up with crushed skulls and blood” after confronting China’s “great project of complete unification” with Taiwan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in Beijing on Thursday. He called the current Chinese military exercises around Taiwan a “serious warning.”
“Against interference and provocation by external forces”
Warlike tones were also heard from the Chinese army: the new exercise was “also a harsh punishment for the separatist forces that sought independence for Taiwan and a serious warning against interference and provocation by external forces,” according to the spokesperson of the Eastern Association of the People’s Association. Liberation Army, Marine Colonel Li Xi.
The army, navy, air force and missile forces were expected to hold exercises around Taiwan through Friday. According to the information, the Chinese military wants to train joint combat readiness at sea and in the air, as well as attack key targets. Ships and aircraft would approach Taiwan from the north, south and east for “patrols” and would also approach several surrounding islands, such as Kinmen Island, just a few kilometers from mainland China.
Blockade simulated – politicians must be prevented from fleeing
Military expert Zhang Chi said on Chinese state television that China was simulating a blockade of Taiwan. The military is training to block energy imports “as a lifeline” to Taiwan, cut off escape routes abroad for Taiwanese politicians and prevent support from allies such as the US.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense condemned the military exercise as an “irrational provocation” that threatened peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwanese military forces at sea, on the ground and in the air were deployed to “defend freedom and democracy with practical actions.”
New Taiwanese president causes nerves in China
The background to the escalation is the swearing-in of Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te last Monday. His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential elections in January and stands for independence for Taiwan, although Lai has not yet indicated that he wants to officially declare this. The ruling Communist Party in Beijing accuses the DPP of separatism.
Source: Krone
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