“This is all about playing with fire, and those who play with fire will eventually get burned,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on the second day of the military drills.
Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Wu Qian made a statement regarding the statements that the drills around Taiwan are increasing tensions in the region and are worrying.
Spokesperson Wu stated that the exercise tested the joint combat capability of troops consisting of land, sea, air and rocket forces. Wu also emphasized that Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te has seriously challenged the one-China principle by pushing the “two-state theory” as soon as he took office, seeking Taiwan’s independence by force and relying on foreign powers. Stating that Lai is dragging the region towards the danger of war, Wu said, “This is playing with fire, and those who play with fire will eventually burn.”
“Taiwan is China’s Taiwan, and how to resolve the Taiwan issue is a matter of concern to more than 1.4 billion Chinese,” Wu said, adding that the military will defend China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity through concrete actions. “With every provocation by separatist forces, our countermeasures will advance one step further until the complete reunification of the motherland is realized,” Wu said. “The military exercises around Taiwan, which are completely reasonable, legitimate and necessary, are aimed at putting an end to the arrogance of separatist forces and deterring interference by outside powers,” Wu said.
Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement, “Taiwan’s leader challenged the ‘one China’ principle as soon as he took office.”
TAIWAN’S STATEMENT
In a statement made by Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, “Until 06:00 today, 49 Chinese aircraft, 19 warships and 7 coast guard vessels were seen around Taiwan. 35 of the aircraft crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait and entered the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Taiwan’s military monitored the situation and responded,” the statement said.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Front Command announced the launch of joint military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, north, south and east of the island, around Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin islands, 3 days after Taiwan’s leader Lai was sworn in. The two-day exercises, called “Joint Sword-2024A”, focused on joint sea-air combat readiness patrol, joint battlefield seizure and joint precision strikes on key targets, and included patrolling in areas around Taiwan and integrated operations inside and outside the island chain to test the real combat capability of troops. It emphasized that the drills also served as “a strong punishment against Taiwan’s independence actions and a stern warning against interference and provocations by external forces.”
While the Chinese military released a photo showing that the drills were carried out in a way to encircle Taiwan, the drills include islands close to the Chinese coast for the first time. Beijing’s administration has been pushing the island’s new leader, Lai Lai, who was sworn in on May 20.
DISPUTE BETWEEN CHINA AND TAIWAN
Beijing says Taiwan is part of China, while Taiwan claims to be an “independent country”. The Chinese government wants to annex Taiwan to China in the name of “peaceful reunification” and says it will not hesitate to use force to achieve this. Beijing also considers it a “violation of sovereignty” for other countries to establish official contacts with Taiwan.
