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Taiwan condemned China on Monday after Xi Jinping‘s army held its second military combat drill around the island nation in less than a month.
What Happened: Taiwan’s defense ministry on Monday said it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft and four naval vessels operating around the island, with about 28 entering into Taiwan’s air defense zone, crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army‘s Eastern Theatre Command said it held “joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat drills” in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, focused on land strikes and sea assaults, reported Reuters.
The aim was to test joint combat capabilities and “resolutely counter the provocative actions of external forces and Taiwan independence separatist forces,” the PLA said in a statement.
This came after China conducted similar exercises late last month when Taiwan said 43 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line, an unofficial buffer between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s presidential office condemned China’s war drills and said Beijing was making “groundless accusations,” and the peace and stability of the Strait were the common responsibility of both sides.
Tsai Ing wen’s office said the island nation’s position is very clear: it will neither escalate conflicts nor provoke disputes but will firmly defend its sovereignty and security.
On Friday, China also slammed the U.S. for “flexing muscles in the name of exercising freedom of navigation” after a U.S. warship transited the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the first crossing in two months.
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