China’s latest military drill in Taiwan focused on land strikes, sea assaults

New Delhi, Jan 09: China's military has said that it carried out combat drills around Taiwan on Sunday. Sgt also said that that the drills were focused on land strikes and sea assaults.

This is the second such exercise carried out by the Chinese military in less than a month.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement that its forces had organised joint combat readiness patrol and actual combat drills.

The aim of the exercises was to test joint combat capabilities and resolutely counter the provocative actions of the external forces and Taiwan independence separatist forces, the statement also said.

Taiwan is yet to respond to the developments. China has been claiming that Taiwan is its own territory.

This is the first time that the PLA Eastern Theater Command has announced a joint drill around the island of Taiwan in 2023. The previous one was held in December 2022 after US President Joe Biden signed the latest National Defense Authorization Act. This deal marked the first time that the US government will finance weapons for Taiwan.

A person requesting anonymity told the Global Times if external interference and Taiwan independence forces continue to provoke then the PLA would intensify the drills.

In 2022, the PLA sent 1,727 planes into the island of Taiwan. An AFP report said that the growth in PLA aircraft sorties in 2022 could be a result of PLA's response to the then US-House Secretary Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit on the island in August.

A similar exercise was carried out by China last month. Taiwan had reported then that 43 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line which is an unofficial buffer between the two sides.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. China has been carrying out military drills regularly into the waters and air space near Taiwan over the past three years.

Following a visit to Taipei by the then US House Secretary, Nancy Pelosi, China had in August last year staged war games near Taiwan.

The sovereignty claims made by Beijing over Taiwan have strongly been rejected by the democratically governed Taiwan.