China vowed on Friday to keep up its military exercises near Taiwan until it is absorbed by the mainland, relinquishing its sovereignty, thus threatening Taiwan with a possible war.
The PRC recently concluded two-day military drills near Taiwan that mimicked an invasion of the island and strikes on strategic locations. The drills occurred just days after Lai Ching-te assumed office as president of Taiwan.
According to a defense ministry spokeswoman, China’s military accomplished its “expected goals” during last week’s two-day training near Taiwan, but it is ready to take more measures if provoked.
China is determined to reunite the self-governing island of Taiwan with the mainland, as it views Taiwan as a separatist province. Beijing regards Lai as a “separatist” and considers democratically administered Taiwan as its territory.
These remarks were made on Thursday, only hours after Taiwan had warned that Beijing was attempting to “nibble away” its space and establish a new normal through exercises and other measures to put pressure on Lai’s new government.
Taiwan said on Wednesday that Chinese airplanes and vessels conducted a joint combat readiness patrol, indicating that China’s military actions have continued even though the drills had officially concluded.
According to the minister, Taiwan encounters significant challenges when trying to attend international conferences. For example, it was excluded from a critical gathering of the World Health Organization earlier this week. Due to Chinese pressure, Taiwan is not a member of most global organizations. Beijing claims Taiwan is a province of China and so does not have the legal status of a state, an assertion that the Taipei administration vehemently disagrees with.
Lin mentioned additional measures taken by China, including the opening of new air routes to islands held by Taiwan along the Chinese coast and the deployment of coast guard ships to Taiwan’s eastern shore during drills last week.
Continuing its threats of continuing Chinese military action, the Taiwan Affairs Office of China emphasized during a regular press conference on Wednesday that Lai is a dangerous advocate of Taiwan’s official independence.
According to China, the issue of Taiwan is entirely domestic.
Taipei maintains that the Republic of China, which includes Taiwan, is already a sovereign nation. After Mao Zedong’s Communists established the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Republican government lost the civil war and retreated to Taiwan.
