China starts Military "Drill" - Surrounds Taiwan
China starts Military "Drill" - Surrounds Taiwan
MAY 23, 2024
The China military has begin drills surrounding Taiwan, including islands of Kinmen and Dongyin, state media says.
Beijing said the menacing war games, dubbed 'Joint Sword-2024A', were a 'strong punishment' for Taiwan following the inauguration of its new president, Lai Ching-te, who is detested in Beijing as a 'separatist'.
But this week's wargames are massive in scale.
The PLA released a map of the intended exercise area which completely surrounds Taiwan's main island concentrating major firepower at five key points, as well as places like Matsu and Kinmen, outlying islands that are closer to the Chinese mainland than Taiwan.
China's coast guard also said it organized a fleet to carry out law enforcement drills near two islands close to the Taiwanese-controlled island groups of Kinmen and Matsu just off the Chinese coast.
They come after the island swore in President Lai who said in his inaugural speech on Monday that Taiwan 'must demonstrate our resolution to defend our nation'.
China denounced Lai's speech as a 'confession of independence'.
