PLA military drills near Taiwan target 'arrogance' of separatists: China

The front-runner to become Taiwan’s next president claimed on Wednesday that China was attempting to “annex” the island. China claimed that its last round of manoeuvres near Taiwan were intended to counter the “arrogance” of separatist forces. This month, Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, reported seeing dozens of aircraft operating nearby, including battleships, bombers, drones, and fighters. Taiwan also reported seeing the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong. The danger of things “getting out of hand” and igniting an unintentional conflict has increased as China’s military actions have become more frequent, the island’s defence minister has warned. Zhu Fenglian, the spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, acknowledged the People’s Liberation Army’s drills when asked about the increase in exercises and Taiwan’s worries about increasing risk. “The purpose is to resolutely combat the arrogance of Taiwan independence separatist forces and their actions to seek independence,” Zhu told a regular news briefing in Beijing. “The provocation of Taiwan independence continues all day long, and the actions of the People’s Liberation Army to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity are always ongoing,” she added. She asked Taiwanese citizens to recognise “right and wrong,” firmly reject the island’s independence, and cooperate with China to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. William Lai, who is expected to win the island’s presidential election in January, has a particularly bad reputation in China because of earlier remarks he made in favour of independence. He has, though, promised to hold discussions with Beijing and claims he does not wish to alter the current situation. According to Lai, who is currently the vice-president of the island, the situation on the other side of the Taiwan Strait had “not improved with time.” “China’s attempts to annex Taiwan have not changed,” he said at an event in Taipei on Wednesday for the 37th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP. While Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has vanished from the public eye, the Chinese armed forces have not specifically stated or commented on the drills. The democratically elected Taiwanese administration has frequently proposed discussions with China, which Beijing has rejected, and claims that only the island’s citizens can decide their future. In a statement on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had discovered and countered 16 Chinese aircraft that had flown into the island’s air defence identification zone in the previous 24 hours. Twelve of them crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, which up until China started routinely crossing it in August of last year had acted as an unofficial border between the two sides. In order to strengthen its defences against China, Taiwan is planning to launch the first of eight domestically produced submarines on Thursday. When asked about the submarines in Beijing, Zhu said that Taiwan’s DPP’s attempts to “seek independence with force” would only heighten tensions and “put the Taiwanese people in danger.” Last week, Taiwan’s defence ministry made an uncommon admission: it was keeping an eye on China’s training exercises in the southern province of Fujian, which is directly across from Taiwan. Taiwan typically only divulges information about drills conducted in the air and on nearby waterways. The Chinese military has not offered any commentary on the Fujian drills. (With agency inputs)