cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/48127740

  • China has deployed its military for war games around Taiwan
  • Eastern Theatre Command carried out live-fire drills
  • Taiwan government condemns drills, mobilises troops
  • Defence ministry posts video showcasing U.S.-made rocket system

[…]

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters dozens of Chinese military boats and aircraft were operating around the island, some of which were “deliberately closing in” on Taiwan’s contiguous zone, defined as 24 nautical miles from its coast.

This marks China’s sixth major round of war games since 2022 after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the democratically governed island, and follows a rise in Chinese rhetoric over Beijing’s territorial claims after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

[…]

Taiwan’s defence ministry said two Chinese military aircraft and 11 ships had been operating around the island over the past 24 hours, and that Taiwan’s military was on high alert and poised to carry out “rapid response exercises.”

That particular drill is designed to move troops swiftly in case China suddenly turns one of its drills around the island into an attack.

“All members of our armed forces will remain highly vigilant and fully on guard, taking concrete action to defend the values of democracy and freedom,” the defence ministry said.

[…]

“I think these drills are just meant to scare us,” said Lin Wei-ming, a 31-year-old teacher based in the capital, Taipei. “Similar drills have happened before … the political side of things can only be handled by Taiwan’s current government and how they choose to respond.” Taiwan rejects China’s claimed sovereignty, maintaining that only its people can decide the island’s future.

[…]

“I think their (China’s) goal is, as they said, ‘keep the island, not the people,’” said Stephanie Huang, a 56-year-old interior designer. “They just want to save face by claiming Taiwan as part of their own country, but Taiwanese people don’t see it that way.”

“We are who we are; they are who they are.”