Chinese Navy to conduct maneuvers near Taiwan ‘regularly’
Shanghai, China, Apr 6 (efe-epa).- The Chinese Navy will continue to carry out training exercises in waters near Taiwan “on a regular basis,” it said Tuesday.
Navy spokesman Gao Xiucheng also confirmed in a statement that its Liaoning aircraft carrier recently carried out maneuvers in the area.
The brief message indicates that it was “a routine training exercise organized according to the annual work plan to test the troops’ training effectiveness and beef up their capability to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.”
Likewise, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced that on Sunday, 10 Chinese Army fighter jets flew over its air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
On Mar. 26, the Taiwanese authorities reported the detection of the largest incursion by Chinese military aircraft in their ADIZ – an area not regulated by any international agreement – since September last year, hours after Taipei and Washington signed their first agreement of the Joe Biden era in the White House.
Taiwan and the United States established a coordination group for the coast guards in response to a law passed by China that allows theirs to open fire on foreign vessels in waters claimed by Beijing.
Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China since the end of the civil war waged more than 70 years ago, while the island is governed autonomously under the name Republic of China.
The Liaoning aircraft carrier crossed the Miyako Strait in southwestern Japan on Saturday, the South China Morning Post reported, days after Beijing demanded that Tokyo “stop all provocative moves” over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, which are claimed by both nations.
The outlet added that in recent days several US military ships have also sailed through the waters of the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and have carried out training exercises with regional allies such as Japan.
The presence of US ships in the South China Sea, according to some analysts, would serve to send a message of support to the Philippines, whose government recently described as a “lie” that the more than 200 Chinese ships anchored in those waters are sheltering from adverse weather conditions.
While Beijing assures that these boats are fishing boats, Manila denounces that it is a maritime militia that serves to consolidate Chinese control over the contested waters. EFE-EPA
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