NANJING - The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Tuesday conducted multi-subject drills in waters to north, south, and east of Taiwan Island.

The theater command organized its vessel and aircraft formations, in coordination with conventional missile troops and long-range rocket launching systems, to conduct drills of air interception, assault on maritime targets, strikes on ground objects, and joint blockade and control, according to the PLA.

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Senior Colonel Shi Yi said in a statement that the drills mainly focus on sea-air combat-readiness patrols, battlefield dominance, strikes on sea and ground targets, blockade on key areas and sea routes, and other tactics to assess the forces' joint operational capabilities.

He added that the drill is a "stern warning and powerful deterrence" against "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and is also a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China's sovereignty and national unity.

The command also published a poster titled "Closing In", featuring warships and fighter jets encircling Taiwan Island, with the message, "Sinister moves of Taiwan separatists. Courting disaster upon themselves."

Stern warning

The exercises serve as a resolute punishment for Lai Ching-te authorities' blatant "Taiwan independence" provocations, said Zhu Fenglian, a State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson. 

The exercises are also a stern warning to separatist forces attempting to undermine peace in the Taiwan Strait, and a necessary action to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Zhu. 

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"'Taiwan independence' means war, and pursuing 'Taiwan independence' means pushing the people of Taiwan into a perilous situation."

Zhu stressed the mainland's rock-solid determination and unshakable capability to resolve the Taiwan question and achieve national reunification.

The mainland will neither tolerate nor leave any room for activities seeking "Taiwan independence", she said.

Zhu stated that Lai has stubbornly adhered to a separatist stance in pursuit of "Taiwan independence", brazenly labeling the mainland as a "hostile external force", introducing the so-called "17 strategies" to counter alleged threats to the island, inciting anti-China sentiment, obstructing cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, and escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

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His actions have exposed his nature as a "saboteur of cross-Strait peace" and a "creator of crises in the Taiwan Strait" who is anti-peace, anti-exchange, anti-democracy and anti-human, the spokesperson noted.

"We will tolerate no such provocation, show no leniency, and will resolutely counter and take stern punitive measures against these acts," she said.

However, Zhu emphasized that the mainland's countermeasures specifically target separatist activities advocating "Taiwan independence" and are not directed at the broader population of Taiwan.

She expressed the hope that the people of Taiwan will stand on the right side of history, distinguish right from wrong, and join hands with their compatriots on the mainland in firmly opposing separatist activities and external interference. 

CCG conducts law-enforcement

China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels on Tuesday conducted law-enforcement patrols in waters around Taiwan Island in accordance with the one-China principle, said Zhu Anqing, spokesperson of the CCG's East China Sea Bureau.

CCG fleets carried out drills such as inspection, capture, interception, and detention operations against unwarranted vessels, said Zhu. 

Taiwan is a province of China, and these drills are concrete actions to exercise legitimate jurisdiction and control over the island in accordance with the one-China principle, Zhu added.  

Also, the coast guard of East China's Fujian province organized its vessel formations to conduct comprehensive law-enforcement patrols in waters surrounding the islands of Dongyin and Wuqiu on Tuesday, said the CCG.

The drills focused on identification and verification, inspection and capture, and control and expulsion operations against unwarranted vessels, according to a statement posted on the website of the CCG.