The Chinese army released a short video last Friday (May 24) showing a simulated attack on Taiwan, while its military, air force and navy staged two days of exercises around the island last Thursday and Friday.
The “3D simulation animation” shows a barrage of missiles fired from the mainland that rain down on targets in the north, south and east of the country, while warships and fighter planes set out to help takeover the independent democratic island nation off eastern China’s Fujian province.
The video was posted on Weibo by the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army.
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China said the war games were staged to punish Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, who took office last week.
Beijing, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has denounced Lai as a “separatist”.
It decried his inauguration speech last Monday, in which he urged Beijing to stop its threats and said the two sides of the strait were “not subordinate to each other”.
The Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said on Friday the drills, dubbed “Joint Sword – 2024A” – aimed to “test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas.”
Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future, and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
US vows to stand by Taiwan
Meanwhile, a senior US lawmaker visiting Taipei on Monday said China’s “intimidating” military exercises after Lai’s inauguration showed that China was not interested in taking Taiwan by peaceful means.
The remarks by Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, were carried live on television from Taiwan’s presidential office.
“America is and always will be a reliable partner and no amount of coercion or intimidation will slow down or stop the routine visits by the Congress to Taiwan,” McCaul said.
PLA releases video simulating an all-out attack on Taiwan https://t.co/CapwDFZyds pic.twitter.com/igD0B5Rfby
— Taiwan News (@TaiwanNewsEN) May 25, 2024
- Jim Pollard with Reuters
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