China says drills near Taiwan target ‘arrogance’ of separatists.

On Wednesday, the front-runner to become Taiwan’s next president said that China was attempting to “annex” the island. China claimed that its last round of maneuvers near Taiwan was intended to counter the “arrogance” of separatist forces.

This month, Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, reported seeing dozens of fighters, drones, bombers, and other aircraft operating in the area, along with warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong.

The danger of things “getting out of hand” and igniting an unintentional conflict has grown as China’s military actions have become more frequent, the island’s defense minister has warned.

Zhu Fenglian, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson, confirmed the People’s Liberation Army’s drills when asked about the rise in exercises and Taiwan’s worries about increasing danger.

Zhu stated during a routine press briefing in Beijing, “The goal is to resolutely combat the haughtiness of Taiwan independence separatist forces and their actions to seek independence.”
She said, “The People’s Liberation Army’s measures to preserve national sovereignty and territorial integrity are constantly continuing, and the provocation of Taiwan’s independence continues throughout the day.

She asked Taiwanese citizens to recognize “right and wrong,” firmly reject the island’s independence, and cooperate with China to preserve peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

William Lai, expected to win the island’s presidential election in January, has a particularly bad reputation in China because of earlier remarks he made in favor of independence.

He has promised to hold discussions with Beijing and claims he does not wish to alter the current situation.

According to Lai, currently the island’s vice president, the situation on the other side of the Taiwan Strait has “not improved with time.”

He stated this during a celebration of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) 37th anniversary in Taipei on Wednesday. “China’s attempts to annex Taiwan have not changed,” he remarked.

MINISTER OF DEFENSE FOR CHINA

While Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has vanished from the public eye, the Chinese military services have not specifically stated or commented on the drills. He is under investigation for corruption, according to sources quoted by Reuters.

The democratically elected Taiwanese administration has frequently proposed discussions with China, which Beijing has rejected, and claims that only the island’s citizens can decide their destiny.

In a statement on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had discovered and countered 16 Chinese aircraft that had flown into the island’s air defense identification zone in the previous 24 hours.

Twelve of them crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, which, until China started routinely crossing it in August of last year, had acted as an unofficial border between the two sides.

To strengthen its defenses against China, Taiwan plans to launch the first of eight domestically produced submarines on Thursday.

When asked about the submarines in Beijing, Zhu stated that Taiwan’s DPP’s attempts to “seek independence with force” would only heighten tensions and “put the Taiwanese people in danger.”

Last week, Taiwan’s defense ministry made an uncommon admission: it kept an eye on China’s training exercises in the southern province of Fujian, which lies directly across from Taiwan. Taiwan typically only divulges information on drills conducted in the air and on nearby waterways.

The material was made public to demonstrate Taiwan’s capabilities for monitoring and intelligence, according to a senior Taiwan official involved with security preparations in the area who spoke to Reuters.

The insider, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the media, added, “We can see the details and we are prepared.”

The Chinese military has similarly made no comments on the exercises in Fujian.