BEIJING/NANJING - The drills conducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday in the Taiwan Strait and in areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan island were a just move to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said.
Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks regarding the PLA Eastern Theater Command's drills code-named "Joint Sword-2024B," which involved troops from the army, navy, air force and rocket force.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing that "Taiwan independence" is incompatible with peace across the Taiwan Strait, and the provocations of "Taiwan independence" separatist forces will inevitably be countered.
Mao said that that China has always been committed to maintaining regional peace and stability, which is evident to countries in the region.
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Taiwan is an integral part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is China's internal affair, which brooks no outside interference, Mao stressed.
If the United States truly cares about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and prosperity of the region, it should abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, earnestly act on its leaders' commitment to not supporting "Taiwan independence," stop arming Taiwan, and stop sending any wrong signals to separatist forces of "Taiwan independence," Mao added.
The Ministry of National Defense said the Eastern Theater Command conducted drills of key-port blockade, seizure of regional control, assault on maritime and ground targets in areas to the north and south of Taiwan Island.
The drills are a test of the PLA troops' capabilities of multi-domain collaboration, systems confrontation and precision strikes on key targets, the ministry said.
Li Xi, spokesperson for the theater command, said the drills involve vessels and planes closing in on the island from multiple directions and assaults by joint forces.
The spokesperson added that the Liaoning aircraft carrier group also participated in the drills.
The theater command deployed the Liaoning aircraft carrier group to conduct exercises on vessel-aircraft collaboration, joint air control, and strikes on sea and land targets in the waters and airspace to the east of Taiwan, said Li.
The drills focus on joint sea-air combat readiness patrol, the blockade and control of key ports and areas, strikes on sea and land targets, and the seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, so as to test the joint real-combat capabilities of the forces of the command, Li said.
The drills are a powerful deterrent to the separatist activities of "Taiwan independence" elements, and are legitimate and necessary actions to safeguard national sovereignty and national unity, Li said, adding that the exercises were sucessfully concluded.
Meanwhile, the China Coast Guard (CCG) also announced that its formations 2901, 1305, 1303 and 2102 conducted law enforcement patrols in the waters surrounding Taiwan island on Monday.
It is a practical action to lawfully enforce control over Taiwan island in accordance with the one-China principle, said Liu Dejun, spokesperson of the CCG.
On the same day, the Fujian Coast Guard said that it organized a formation of vessels to conduct comprehensive law enforcement patrols in the waters near the islands of Dongyin and Matsu.
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The patrols conducted by the Fujian Coast Guard focused on exercises such as verification and identification, boarding inspections, and control and expulsion operations. These activities were aimed at assessing rapid response and emergency handling capabilities.
