China kicks off live drills near Taiwan in response to Tsai’s visit to US

China has begun the third day of live-free drills near Taiwan in reaction to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent visit to the United States, Al Jazeera reported.

During the weekend, Chinese fighter jets and warships rehearsed attacks on Taiwan. Taiwan has protested Beijing’s activities. According to Al Jazeera, Beijing’s drills on Monday would involve live-fire training off the coast of China’s Fujian province, which is just around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Taiwan’s Matsu islands.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence on Monday detected 70 Chinese military aircraft and 11 naval ships around Taiwan and its armed forces were monitoring the situation to respond to these activities.

In a tweet, Taiwan’s Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said, “70 PLA aircraft and 11 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond these activities.”

It further said, “35 of the detected aircraft (SU-30*8, J-11*4, J-10*6, J-16*8, TB-001 UCAV, Y-9EW, Y-8 ASW, J-15*4, CH-4 UCAV, KJ-500 AEW&C) had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwest and southeast ADIZ, flight paths as illustrated.”

China began three-day military drills around Taiwan called “Joint Sword” after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as per the Al Jazeera report.

On Saturday, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), said that the PLA Eastern Theater Command launched a “combat readiness security patrol” around Taiwan and carried out “Joint Sword” exercise, which will last from April 8-10, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Taiwan lodged a protest against Chinese military drills around Taiwan, saying that the country would not yield to threats. In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence called Taiwan as their “homeland.”