China holds Taiwan war games, vows blood of ‘independence forces’

BEIJING   -    China on Thursday encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft in war games, as it vowed the blood of “independence forces” on the self-ruled island would flow. The drills come after Lai Chingte was sworn in as Taiwan’s new president this week and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a “confession of independence”.

As the drills got underway, China’s military said they would serve as “strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”. Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin then delivered a warning that included language more commonly used by China’s propaganda outlets.

“Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great... trend of China achieving complete unification,” Wang told reporters. ‘Joint Sword-2024A’ - China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to bring the democratic island under its rule, by force if necessary. Thursday and Friday’s drills -- codenamed “Joint Sword-2024A” -- involve aircraft and ships surrounding the island to test their combat capabilities, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said. The drills, which began on Thursday morning, are taking place in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of the island, as well as areas around the Taipeiadministered islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin. China’s military put out a series of posters touting what it called its “cross-strait lethality”. They featured rockets, jets and naval vessels next to bloodstained text.

“The weapon aimed at ‘Taiwan independence’ to kill ‘independence’ is already in place,” it declared. As of around 8:00 pm (1200 GMT), Taipei’s defence ministry said 49 jets and planes had been detected since the drills began at 7:20 am. Thirty- five of the aircraft had crossed the median line bisecting the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing, which split with Taipei at the end of a civil war 75 years ago, regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified.

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