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BEIJING: Chinese military exercises off the southwest coast of Taiwan last week were a “necessary action” to protect China’s sovereignty, Beijing said on Wednesday (September 16), after Taiwan complained that the air exercises and large-scale navals were a serious provocation.
China, which claims that democratic Taiwan is its own, has intensified military activities near the island, in what Taiwan sees as intimidation to force it to accept Chinese rule.
Taiwan denounced the two days of exercises last week, which it said took place in the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone between mainland Taiwan and the Pratas Islands controlled by Taiwan. Taiwan says China sent advanced Su-30 and J-10 fighters to participate.
LEE: Taiwan denounces large-scale Chinese drills near the island
Offering China’s first public explanation for the exercises, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Taiwan is a “sacred” and inseparable part of China.
“The relevant combat training activities of the People’s Liberation Army were a necessary action aimed at the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty,” Ma told a news conference.
In an apparent reference to the United States, Taiwan’s top arms supplier and biggest international supporter, Ma said the exercises also targeted “interference by foreign forces” and Taiwan’s independence activities, not the people of Taiwan. .
The Taiwan government was allowing Western anti-China forces to “play the Taiwan card” and become a pawn in stopping China’s development, sparking feuds between the two sides of the strait and seeking independence from Taiwan, Ma said. .
“They continue to provoke and are threat-makers and troublemakers,” he said.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, who warned of the risk of accidental conflict due to increased military activities, says the island is already an independent country called the ROC, the formal name for Taiwan.
LEE: Taiwan reports on several Chinese fighters in its southwest
The Pentagon also raised concerns about China’s drills last week. The United States has been conducting its own military activity near Taiwan, including regular warships across the Taiwan Strait.
