BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) – China conducted simulated missile attacks and sent fighter jets carrying missiles and bombers in its two-day drill in Taiwan, state television CCTV said, in maneuvers that Beijing said were launched to punish the new president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te.
The bombers have set up several attack formations flying over waters east of Taiwan and carrying out mock attacks in coordination with naval vessels, he added, as China tests its ability to “seize power” and control strategic areas of Taiwan.
The two days of exercises in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast, which a Taiwanese official said included mock bombing of foreign ships, began just three days after Lai took office, Monday. Taiwan condemned China’s actions.
China considers democratically governed Taiwan as its territory and calls Lai a “separatist.” He sharply criticized his inauguration speech, in which he urged Beijing to end the threats and said the two sides of the strait were “not subordinate to each other.”
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that the drills, dubbed “Joint Sword – 2024A,” were intended to “test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy strategic areas.”
(Translated by Chiara Scarciglia, editing by Sabina Suzzi)
