China says military drills ‘successfully completed’
China’s military on Monday said it had “successfully completed” exercises around Taiwan, following three days of war games circling the self-ruled island which Beijing considers as its own territory.
“From April 8 to 10, the Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese PLA successfully completed various tasks for the war-preparedness patrol around Taiwan island and the ‘Joint Sword’ exercise, and comprehensively tested the integrated joint combat ability of multiple military branches under actual combat conditions,” the Eastern Command said in a social media post, AFP reported.
Beijing announced the drills on Saturday, after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taipei following a meeting in California with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Japan has been following China’s military drills around Taiwan “with great interest,” Reuters quoted a top government spokesperson as saying on Monday.
Japan has long worried about China’s military activities in the area, given how close southern Japanese islands are to Taiwan. The southern Japanese island of Okinawa hosts a major U.S. Air Force base, and last August when China staged war games to protest the visit of then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, Chinese missiles landed within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The European Union also expressed concern on Monday, saying Taiwan’s status should not be changed by force as any escalation, accident or use of force there would have huge global implications.
The US has said it is watching China’s drills closely.
However, The Kremlin on Monday backed China’s three-day drills, saying Beijing had a “sovereign right” to respond to “provocative acts.”
“We have witnessed multiple acts that were provocative in their character towards the Chinese People’s Republic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, AFP reported. “China has the sovereign right to respond to these provocative acts, including with military manoeuvres, in strict accordance with international law.”