There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills around Taiwan and its defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
China’s other recent military activity in the region, such as that off Australia’s coast, are “proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific,” Taiwan’s ministry said.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule, and has denounced both President Lai Ching-te, who took office last year, as a “separatist”, and the United States for its support for Taiwan.
Lai’s office condemned the drills, but said the government had a “full grasp” of the situation and people could rest assured.
“Maintaining regional peace and stability is the common responsibility of both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” Lai’s spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, China’s official Xinhua news agency said the ruling Communist Party’s fourth ranked leader, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese “reunification”.
China must “firmly grasp the right to dominate and take the initiative in cross-strait relations, and unswervingly push forward the cause of reunification of the motherland”, it quoted Wang as telling an annual meeting on work related to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
Source: CNA
