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China ended a controversial day of military drills around Taiwan on Monday in which it deployed fighter jets and warships in what Beijing said was a “stern warning” to “separatist” forces on the self-ruled island.
Beijing has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control and Monday’s drills represented its fourth round of large-scale war games in just over two years.
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“We sincerely strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force and will not leave any space for ‘Taiwan independence’,” Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Wu Qian said in a statement.
The United States said China’s actions were “unwarranted” and risk “escalation” as it called on Beijing to act with restraint.
Beijing announced at around 6pm (1000 GMT), 13 hours after the drills started, that they had been “successfully completed”.
The drills, dubbed Joint Sword-2024B, had “fully tested the integrated joint operation capabilities of its troops”, military spokesperson Captain Li Xi said in a statement.
“Always on high alert, troops of the theater command keep strengthening combat readiness with arduous training, and will foil the ‘Taiwan Independence separatist attempts’,” Li said.
President Lai Ching-te, who took office in May, has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan’s sovereignty, angering Beijing, which calls him a “separatist”.
Lai vowed on Monday to “protect democratic Taiwan and safeguard national security”, while the defence ministry said it had dispatched “appropriate forces” in response to the drills.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said “Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Strait are irreconcilable”.
Taiwan detected 125 Chinese aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, around the island between 5:02am (2102 GMT) and 4:30pm, a defence ministry official said, describing it as a record for a single day. Seventeen warships were also spotted.
