“Serious Warning to Separatists”
China’s armed forces rehearse Taiwan’s encirclement
08/20/2023, 05:35 am
Because the Taiwanese vice president is traveling to the US, Chinese forces are holding drills encircling the island. “This is a serious warning,” the army said.
25 Chinese military planes have crossed the center line of the Strait of Taiwan, considered the unofficial border between China and Taiwan, in the past 24 hours, according to Taiwan. These included Su-30 and J-11 fighter jets, according to a table published by the ministry. There are no immediate signs that China will resume military exercises on Sunday.
China has responded to Vice President William Lai’s US visit with military exercises off Taiwan and threats against the island republic. Air and sea forces of the People’s Republic tried encircling the island on Saturday, the Chinese army said. “This is a grave warning to Taiwan’s separatists who are conspiring with outside forces to provoke.”
The exercises were accompanied by sharp criticism from the Chinese media of Lai, who is considered a promising candidate in January’s presidential election. Taiwan condemned China’s actions, which had been expected due to Lai’s stopovers in the US during a trip to Paraguay.
For China, Taiwan is a breakaway province. Taiwan considers itself an independent Republic of China and has been self-governing since 1949. At that time, Mao Zedong’s communists defeated the nationalist Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese civil war, who then withdrew to the island of Taiwan and ruled there in an authoritarian manner for decades.