The Chinese army began live ammunition exercises near Taiwan on Tuesday, maintaining its pressure on the island, with Taiwanese authorities indicating they are closely monitoring these maneuvers which they described as a “threat” to regional stability.
• Also read: China test-fires missiles twice during latest exercises, Taiwan says
• Also read: Taiwan says it detected 153 Chinese planes in one day near the island, a record
• Also read: Beijing launches military maneuvers around Taiwan, which says it has deployed “adequate forces”
Beijing held large-scale maneuvers in mid-October with a record number of military planes and ships around Taiwan, while Chinese President Xi Jinping appealed to troops to prepare for war.
On Monday, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration in Pingtan, a town in China’s Fujian province (east), announced live ammunition firing for four hours, starting at 9 a.m. local time (1 a.m. GMT) in an area of ‘about 150 square kilometers.
Pingtan is the closest place in mainland China to Taiwan. The area where the shooting will take place is located around a hundred kilometers from the island.
China’s Maritime Safety Administration in Pingtan did not say who was to carry out the shots or their target.
In response to these exercises, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense indicated on Tuesday that it was closely monitoring China’s “military activities and intentions”.
Taipei said the exercises could be part of Beijing’s “tactics to step up its intimidation” across the Taiwan Strait. Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai described them as a “threat that undermines regional peace and stability.”
Over the weekend, a U.S. warship and another Canadian crossed the 180-kilometer-wide Taiwan Strait, part of regular passages by Washington and its allies to boost its status as an international waterway.
Beijing condemned this passage, saying it disrupted “peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.
The mid-October exercises, called Joint Sword-2024B (“United Sharp Swords-2024B”) with fighter planes, drones, warships and coast guards, took place in areas located in north, south and east of Taiwan.
Xi Jinping last week called on troops to strengthen their war preparedness during a visit by the army’s Missile Force, state media reported Saturday.
:strip_icc():format(jpeg)/kly-media-production/medias/3583371/original/051134400_1632619337-Apple_iPhone-iPad-Availability_Beijing-Team-Member-And-Customer_09242021.jpg?w=120&resize=120,86&ssl=1 "If you want to change your cellphone, this series of iPhones are still worth buying in 2025")
