China conducts combat exercises around Taiwan
The German parliamentary delegation visiting the Parliament Building in Taipei.
A.F.B
The Chinese army announced that it conducted combat exercises around Taiwan, the day before yesterday, focusing on land and sea attacks, in the second such exercise in less than a month.
The Chinese army's Eastern Region Command said in a statement late Sunday that its forces had conducted "joint combat readiness patrols and active combat exercises" in the sea and airspace around Taiwan.
It added in a brief statement that the aim of the exercises is to test joint combat capabilities and "firmly counter the provocative actions of external forces and separatist forces demanding Taiwan independence."
The exercise coincided with the visit of a group of German lawmakers to Taiwan yesterday morning.
The delegation is headed by Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Chair of the Defense Committee of the German Parliament.
German lawmakers met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, and the head of Taiwan's National Security Council and Mainland Affairs Council, which handles issues related to China.
One member of the delegation said Beijing's growing threat to Taiwan was "unacceptable".
Yesterday, China recalled Germany's "painful" history when it criticized the visit of a high-level German parliamentary delegation to Taiwan, in a clear reference to the country's wartime record.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry quickly denounced the visit.
"The roots of the Taiwan problem are precisely the spread of the law of the jungle, hegemony, colonialism, militarism and nationalism in the world, and China has suffered greatly from it," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
He added that «Germany gave a deep and painful historical lesson in this regard.
We urge these German politicians to earnestly adhere to the one-China principle.”
In turn, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said that the exercises continued until yesterday, as Chinese warplanes and naval ships monitored their missile systems.
The ministry added that China's actions "severely impede peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters".
China has stepped up pressure on the Taiwanese military in recent years by sending warplanes or naval ships almost daily to the self-ruled island.
China claims full sovereignty over the island, which was separated from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.
In a statement issued yesterday morning, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said that over the course of 24 hours from 6:00 a.m. Sunday to 6:00 a.m. Monday, the People's Liberation Army sent 57 warplanes and four ships towards Taiwan.
Twenty-eight of those planes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that both sides previously adhered to.
Taiwan is scheduled to start annual two-day military exercises starting tomorrow.
The drills ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday are aimed at showing off their defensive capabilities.
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