Taipei (Taiwan): China's military held exercises surrounding Taiwan on Thursday in what it called punishment for separatist forces seeking independence on the self-governed island where a new president took office this week.
Beijing claims the island is part of China's national territory and the People's Liberation Army sends navy ships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other areas around the island almost daily to wear down Taiwan's defenses and seek to intimidate its people, who firmly back their de facto independence.
In his inauguration address on Monday, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te called for Beijing to stop its military intimidation and pledged to "neither yield nor provoke" the mainland Communist Party leadership.
The PLA's Eastern Theater Command started its two-day land, navy and air exercises Thursday morning, the unit said on its official Weibo account. "This is also a powerful punishment for the separatist forces seeking 'independence' and a serious warning to external forces for interference and provocation," the statement said.
The exercises are meant to test the navy and air capabilities of the PLA units, as well as their joint strike abilities to hit targets and win control of the battlefield, the statement said.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it had dispatched its military to respond accordingly by placing units on alert, and criticized China for the exercises.
"This pretext for conducting military exercises not only does not contribute to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, but also shows its hegemonic nature at heart."
The PLA also released a map of the intended exercise area, which surrounds Taiwan's main island at five different points, as well as places like Matsu and Kinmen, outlying islands that are closer to the Chinese mainland than Taiwan.
China's coast guard also said in a statement Thursday that they organized a fleet to carry out law enforcement drills near two islands near Kinmen and Matsu.
