Test for seizure of power
Chinese military spokesman further fuels tensions with Taiwan
24.05.2024, 03:56
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Shortly after the inauguration of Taiwan’s president, China started military exercises near the island state. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman threatened Taiwanese independence supporters with “bloodshed”. Now the tone is getting even tougher.
According to a Chinese military spokesman, the Chinese military exercises around Taiwan are a test of the ability to take power over the self-governing island. The two-day exercises will test the “ability to jointly take power, to carry out joint attacks and to control key areas,” military spokesman Li Xi said, according to state media.
A few days after the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, China issued a drastic threat of bloodshed to Taiwan’s independence supporters. “The independence forces will end up with smashed skulls and blood” after being confronted with China’s “grand” plan of “complete unification” with Taiwan, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin in Beijing. He called the current Chinese military exercises around Taiwan a “serious warning.”
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province that should be reunited with the mainland, using military force if necessary. For several years, Beijing has regularly sent fighter planes and warships near the island. Taiwan seceded from communist mainland China at the end of a civil war 75 years ago. Beijing views the island, which has a population of 23 million, as a breakaway province that should be reunited with the mainland, using military force if necessary.