2023-08-19 04:07:10
taiwan condemned on Saturday (08.19.2023) the military maneuvers initiated by China around its territory following a stopover in USA of the vice president of the island’s government that provoked the ire of Beijing.
China’s military began war drills around Taiwan on Saturday, saying it was a “serious warning” for the island and in response to Taiwanese Vice President William Lai’s stopover in the United States.
“The Ministry of National Defense strongly condemns this irrational and provocative behavior, and will deploy appropriate forces in response… to uphold freedom, democracy and sovereignty” of Taiwan, Taipei said in a statement.
Meanwhile, this same Saturday, Beijing “firmly” condemned the “new provocation” of the Taiwan Progressive Democratic Party by “colluding” with the United States, referring to Lai’s scales in the North American country.
China: “blatant” attempt to seek US support
The Taiwan Affairs Office of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee called Lai’s (also known as Lai Ching-te) stay a “blatant” attempt to seek American support for “independence from Taiwan,” reported the official Xinhua news agency.
The Chinese military “deployed joint air and sea patrols and navy-air force military exercises around the island of Taiwan on Saturday,” the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the Eastern Theater Command as saying.
A “serious warning”
These exercises are “aimed at training the coordination of military ships and aircraft and their ability to gain control of air and sea spaces” and to test their ability to fight “in real combat conditions,” it added.
They are also a “serious warning of collusion between ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists with foreign elements and their provocations,” the agency said.
The maneuvers take place following Taiwanese Vice President Lai’s trip to Paraguay, one of the island’s last official allies, during which he made stops in New York on the way out and San Francisco on the way back.
jc (afp, efe, Archyde.com)
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