Taiwan says China's military drills may simulate attack
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A Chinese military vessel sails off Pingtan island. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
Taiwan said Saturday that recent military drills from China appear to simulate an attack, the Associated Press reports.
Driving the news: Multiple Chinese warships and aircraft crossed into the Taiwan Strait earlier this week following Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to the self-governing island, which angered Beijing.
What's happening: Taiwan’s armed forces issued an alert Saturday and made a number of moves in response to China's recent drills, including dispatching air and naval patrols around the island and activating land-based missile systems, the Ministry of National Defense said, per AP.
- At least 20 Chinese aircraft and 14 ships were still conducting exercises near the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
The other side: China’s Ministry of Defense said Saturday that it was carrying out military drills as planned and “testing the capabilities” of land strikes and sea assault, per AP.
State of play: After Pelosi visited Taiwan this week, China announced several days of live-fire drills — the largest Beijing has ever held in the Taiwan Strait, Reuters reports.
- China began the drills Thursday, firing ballistic missiles into waters just east of Taiwan. It was the first time China has done so since the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis.
Threat level: Wang Ting-yu, a member of the Taiwanese parliament, told Axios that Taiwan would consider it an invasion if Chinese naval forces made their way into the island's territorial waters.
- A Chinese military incursion within 10 miles of the self-governing island's coast would trigger defensive protocols, Axios' Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reports.
- Taiwan does not "want to provoke any conflict," Wang told Axios. But, he said, "whoever dares to invade our country, our home, we have our obligation to defend our home."
Go deeper ... In photos: China's military drills encircle Taiwan
