The Chinese army carries out this Tuesday some exercises with live fire in the strait of Taiwan after deploying ships and planes around this self-governing island this month in important military maneuvers.
The exercises, announced Monday by the Maritime Safety Administration, take place on Pingtan Island, China’s closest point to the main island of Taiwan, about 105 kilometers away.
According to this agency’s announcement, the maneuvers with “gun firing” began at 09:00 local time and will last four hours.
The maritime authorities did not specify which military unit will carry out the live-fire exercises or their objective.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it was closely monitoring “military activities and intentions” of China and declared that these maneuvers may be part of “Beijing’s tactics to reinforce its intimidation” in the strait that separates both territories.
Beijing considers Taiwan its territory
The Chinese Communist Party has never ruled over Taiwan, but considers it part of its territory and does not rule out using force to take control of it.
On October 14, China sent a record number of aircraftas well as military and coast guard ships, to surround the island in the fourth round in two years of important military maneuvers in the area.
Beijing said that this exercise was a «warning for separatist acts of the forces of ‘Taiwanese independence’.
Just days later, during a visit to a brigade of his army’s Rocket Force, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on his troops to step up their preparation for war.
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