China’s military said it conducted ground and naval attack drills around Taiwan on Sunday, the second such exercise in less than a month.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement late Sunday that its forces had organized “joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat exercises” in the sea and airspace around Taiwan.
The aim of the exercise was to test joint combat capabilities and “resolutely counter provocative actions by external forces and pro-Taiwan independence separatist forces,” it added in a brief statement.
There was no immediate reaction from Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers its own territory. China conducted similar exercises late last month, with Taiwan reporting that 43 Chinese aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial buffer between the two sides.
China, which has never given up on using force to bring the island under its control, has carried out regular military incursions into the waters and airspace near Taiwan in the past three years. In August, China held war games near Taiwan following a visit to Taipei by then-U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Democratically governed Taiwan strongly rejects Beijing’s claims to sovereignty.
