ITDC India ePress, No 1 English CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out mock missile drills on Friday, the second day of its two-day Taiwan military exercise which saw its troops moving mobile artillery and missile systems into position.
The drills began on Thursday when the PLA sent warships and fighter jets around the island, which China considers its breakaway province. This came just three days after Taiwan swore in its new president Lai Ching-te. China’s Communist regime calls Lai a “dangerous separatist”, claiming the drills were “a strong punishment for separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces.” In his inauguration speech, Lai had urged Beijing to stop its threats and said the two sides of the strait were “not subordinate to each other”.
On Friday, the PLA conducted mock missile strikes and dispatched bombers carrying live missiles, state television CCTV said, adding that the bombers set up several attack formations in waters east of Taiwan in coordination with naval vessels.
The drills, dubbed “Joint Sword – 2024, were designed to “test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas,” the PLA said.
A senior Taiwanese official told Reuters that the drills included the mock bombing of foreign vessels. He added that several Chinese bombers conducted mock attacks on foreign vessels near the eastern end of the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines.
China also deployed several coast guard boats to conduct “harassment” drills off Taiwan’s east coast, including mock inspections of civilian ships.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry condemned China’s military exercises, calling them “irrational provocations”. The Taiwanese military also scrambled its sea, air and ground forces in response to the drills.
