By Staff, Agencies

China has launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan, simulating a blockade of major ports, attacking maritime targets, and fending off international “interference”, in what it calls a warning to “separatist” forces in Taiwan.

The People’s Liberation Army [PLA] - the military wing of the ruling Communist party in China - said it had sent naval, air force and rocket forces to surround Taiwan on Monday morning. Chinese coast guard vessels were also sent out to conduct “law enforcement inspections” at sea around Taiwan’s outer islands.

The exercise, named Justice Mission 2025, was a “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces”, said a spokesperson for the PLA’s eastern theatre command, Col Shi Yi.

“It is a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity.”

On Monday morning Taiwan’s defense ministry accused Beijing of escalating tensions and undermining regional peace. It “strongly condemned” the activity, saying it dispatched “appropriate forces” to respond and conduct counter combat-readiness exercises of its own.

 “Defending democracy and freedom is no provocation, and the existence of the Republic of China [Taiwan’s formal name] is not an excuse for aggressors to disrupt the status quo,” the ministry said.

Taiwan’s coast guard said the scope of the drill “poses a significant threat to the navigational safety of vessels in Taiwan’s waters and to the operational rights of fishermen”.

Beijing views that Taiwan is a Chinese province and is preparing to annex it. It is undergoing a massive military modernization and expansion drive, with the aim of being capable of invasion by 2027, according to US intelligence from several years ago.

The Chinese Communist party [CCP] and its leader, Xi Jinping, have urged Taiwan to accept “peaceful reunification”, deploying a range of encouragements but mostly threats and coercive actions that have intensified in recent years. However, the vast majority of Taiwan’s parliament and people reject the prospect of CCP rule, and Taiwan is boosting its own military defenses in resistance.

In a statement announcing the drills, China’s eastern theatre command said: “The vessels and aircraft will approach the Taiwan Island in close proximity from different directions to test the capabilities of the troops to conduct rapid maneuvers, form all-dimensional posture, and execute systemic blockade and control.”

The announcement included stylized propaganda videos, and maps indicating air and maritime areas to avoid, in three large zones around the southern point of Taiwan, and two to its north and north-west.

The PLA said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, drones, and long-range missiles, testing “capabilities of sea-air coordination and of precise target hunting and neutralization”, including attacks on submarines and other maritime targets.