Taipei 7 August : China continued its controversial military exercises in Taiwan on Sunday in what’s expected to be the final day of the exercises that have significantly increased tensions in the region in the wake of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taipei.Taiwan’s military announced that 20 Chinese military aircrafts and 14 warships have taken part in Saturday’s exercise, with Chinese drones again observed over Taiwan’s administered island of Kinmen located only 10km away from the port city of Xiamen located on the Chinese mainland, according to the news agency dpa.
According to experts there haven’t been any Chinese flights of the island, which is also called Quemoy since the 1950s.
On Saturday also, the Defence Ministry in Taipei had stated that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is conducting “what they believe to be an actual simulation of the Taiwanese mainland”.
In response, Taiwan’s military sent out aircraft, radioed warnings and deployed missile defense systems to hunt the Chinese military aircraft.
The Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s government agency for policy-related dealings with Beijing and Beijing, strongly protested China’s actions, requesting Beijing to stop immediately the irresponsible provocation.
The Chinese leadership in Beijing initiated the maneuvers in the wake of Pelosi’s visit to Beijing early last week.
The exercises are China’s most impressive display of military power since missile exercises that were conducted in the mid-1990s caused to the US to dispatch two carriers of aircraft to the Taiwan Strait.
China has for a long time claimed Taiwan as a part of its territory of sovereign sovereignty and threatened to take Taiwan by force if it tries to declare its independence.
The Taiwanese however, have long believed that they are distinct nation.
