China’s military on Friday continued its joint military drills surrounding Taiwan for a second day after island’s new leader took office earlier this week, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command has organized its troops of army, navy, air force and rocket force to conduct joint military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan since Thursday to test the troops’ capabilities of joint operations, according to the report.
The military drills aim to crack down on the arrogance of “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and deter the interference and intervention of external forces, and they are completely reasonable, lawful, legitimate and necessary, National Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said.
“With each provocation of the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, the countermeasures will advance one step further until China’s complete reunification is realized,” Wu was quoted as saying at a press conference in Beijing.
Wu said that new Taiwan lead
er Lai Ching-te “seriously challenged the one-China principle by touting the “two states theory” and attempting to seek “Taiwan independence” by force and by relying on external forces.
He noted that such behavior pushes the Taiwan compatriots toward the danger of war, calling it “an act of playing with fire.” China and Taiwan separated after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still sees the island as its territory.
Source: Kuwait News Agency