https://arab.news/cjhuc
- Taiwan accused China of using US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit as an excuse to kickstart drills
- Military played down Taiwan's exercises鈥� significance, saying they were not in response to China鈥檚 war games
TAIPEI: Taiwan鈥檚 army held another live-fire drill Thursday after Beijing ended its largest-ever military exercises around the island and repeated threats to bring the self-ruled democracy under its control.
Beijing has raged at a trip to Taiwan last week by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 鈥� the highest-ranking elected American official to visit in decades 鈥� staging days of air and sea drills around the island that raised tensions to their highest level in years.
Taiwan has accused China of using the Pelosi visit as an excuse to kickstart drills that would allow it to rehearse for an invasion.
Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for Taiwan鈥檚 Eighth Army Corps, told AFP its forces fired howitzers and target flares as part of the defensive drill on Thursday morning.
The exercise in Taiwan鈥檚 southernmost county Pingtung began at 0830 am (0030 GMT) and lasted about an hour, he said.
Artillery tucked in from the coast was lined up side by side, with armed soldiers in units firing the howitzers out to sea one after the other, a live stream showed.
Taiwan held a similar drill on Tuesday in Pingtung. Both involved hundreds of troops, the military said.
The military has played down the exercises鈥� significance, saying they were already scheduled and were not in response to China鈥檚 war games.
鈥淲e have two goals for the drills, the first is to certify the proper condition of the artillery and their maintenance condition and the second is to confirm the results of last year,鈥� Lou said, referring to annual drills.
The latest exercise came after China鈥檚 military indicated its own drills had come to an end Wednesday, saying its forces 鈥渟uccessfully completed various tasks鈥� in the Taiwan Strait while vowing to continue patrolling its waters.
But in the same announcement, China added that it would 鈥渃ontinue to carry out military training and prepare for war.鈥�
In a separate white paper published Wednesday, China鈥檚 Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing would 鈥渘ot renounce the use of force鈥� against its neighbor and reserved 鈥渢he option of taking all necessary measures.鈥�
鈥淲e are ready to create vast space for peaceful reunification, but we will leave no room for separatist activities in any form,鈥� it said in the paper.
China last issued a white paper on Taiwan in 2000.
Taiwan鈥檚 foreign ministry on Thursday joined its top policymaking body on China in rejecting the 鈥渙ne country, two systems鈥� model that Beijing has proposed for the island.
鈥淐hina鈥檚 whole statement absolutely goes against the cross-strait status quo and its reality,鈥� ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou told a press conference.
鈥淐hina is using US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi鈥檚 visit as an excuse to destroy the status quo and taking the opportunity to make trouble, attempting to create a new normal to intimidate the Taiwanese people.鈥�
鈥淥ne country, two systems鈥� refers to the model under which Hong Kong and Macau were promised a degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.
Taiwan routinely stages military drills simulating defense against a Chinese invasion, and last month practiced repelling attacks from the sea in a 鈥渏oint interception operation鈥� as part of its largest annual exercises.
In response to the Chinese military revealing it was bringing drills to an end Wednesday, Taiwan鈥檚 army said it would 鈥渁djust how we deploy our forces... without letting our guard down.鈥�
Since the late 1990s, the island has transformed from an autocracy into a vibrant democracy, and a more distinct Taiwanese identity has solidified.
Relations between the two sides have significantly worsened since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan鈥檚 president in 2016.
Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party do not consider Taiwan a part of China.
Their platform falls under China鈥檚 broad definition of Taiwanese separatism, which includes those who advocate for the island to have an identity separate from the mainland.