Beijing – Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the armed forces to step up their training for “real combat” amid tensions over Taiwan and after three-day military exercises to put pressure on the island.
Beijing regards Taiwan as a province that it has not yet managed to incorporate into its territory since the end of the civil war in 1949.
In this sense, his government will impose this Sunday a no-fly zone in the north of the island due to unspecified “space activities”. That will limit flights, the Taiwanese Ministry of Transportation announced Wednesday.
“China unilaterally established a no-fly zone in the convergence zones of numerous international routes to restrict flights for ‘space activities,'” the Taipei government reported, specifying that the closure of the zone would last 27 minutes, from 9:30 a.m. to 9:57 a.m. local time.
For the Chinese regime, the meeting last week between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, was a “provocation”. In response, the Army organized military exercises in order to put pressure on Taiwan.
For the exercises, which ended on Monday with the use of live fire, China mobilized warships, missile launchers and fighter planes.
State television CCTV yesterday broadcast Xi Jinping’s first public comments since those exercises.
“Determination”
The Army must “resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to protect peripheral stability in general,” the Chinese leader insisted during a visit to a naval base in the south, but without explicitly mentioning Taiwan.
Xi called on the military to “strengthen actual combat-oriented military training,” according to CCTV.
Xi made the remarks as the United States and the Philippines launched the largest joint military exercises in their history.
With these trainings, both historical allies try to strengthen their coordination to counteract China’s influence in the region.
The Philippines’ closeness to Taiwan could make the country a key partner if China were to invade the island.
The Philippines announced earlier this month the location of four new military bases likely to be used by the United States, one of which is located near the South China Sea and another not far from Taiwan.
China criticized the deal, saying it “endangers regional peace and stability.”
The German Foreign Ministry yesterday criticized Beijing’s “threatening military positions”, which increase “the risk of inadvertent military clashes”.
“We hope that all the actors in the region contribute to stability and peace,” added Andrea Sasse, a spokeswoman for the aforementioned ministry, at a press conference in Berlin.
Source: Ambito
