Taiwan's main annual Han Kuang exercises take place in the last week of this month, focusing on defending the island's main international airport and how to keep sea lanes open in the event of a Chinese blockade.Ĭhina practised precision strikes and blockades in drills around the island in April after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met U.S. On Thursday, China's foreign ministry, asked about the drills, said: "The Chinese people will never waver in our resolve and determination to uphold China's sovereignty and territorial integrity".
"China regards breaking through the first island chain as an important tactical goal," he said, referring to the islands running from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China's coastal seas.Ĭhina's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Some of the aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, an unofficial buffer that separates the two sides, and came near waters 24 nautical miles off Taiwan's shores, the island's contiguous zone, in what Taiwan security officials called "harassment".Ĭhieh Chung, a military researcher at Taiwan's National Policy Foundation think tank, said practicing long-distance missions was important for China as they would be the "main combat mode" in any conflict. Since Tuesday, China has sent dozens of fighters, bombers and other aircraft including drones into the skies to Taiwan's south, some crossing the Bashi Channel which separates Taiwan from the Philippines and into the Pacific, accompanying Chinese warships, Taiwan's defence ministry said.
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