Taipei, May 25 (CNA) Taiwan's Presidential Office said Saturday that China's recent large-scale military drills around Taiwan were “provocative” and destabilizing not only in the region but also internationally.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Kuo Ya-hui said in a statement that the drills, conducted on Thursday and Friday, were unilateral military actions by China that undermine peace and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and challenge the international order.
Guo said China's actions have raised serious concerns and condemnation from the international community.
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) began two days of joint military drills in the region surrounding Taiwan on Thursday, three days after the inauguration of the island's new president, Lai Ching-te.
The military drills, dubbed “United Sword 2024A,” were conducted in the Taiwan Strait, north, south and east of Taiwan's main island, as well as around Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin islands, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region and the Taiwan Strait is in the international community's interest and a global consensus, Guo said at a press conference on Saturday.
Kuo added that the president and his national security team have been closely monitoring the situation and taking appropriate responses to safeguard national security.
“When a nation's leaders place the welfare of their people above all else, peace, mutual benefit and prosperous coexistence across the Taiwan Strait will be our common goal,” Lai said in his inaugural address.
It also called on China to cease military actions against Taiwan and assume shared responsibility for maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas.
Taiwan's defence ministry also said Thursday that China was engaging in “irrational provocations”.
The two-day military drills focused on joint naval and air combat readiness patrols, comprehensive joint control of the battlefield and joint precision strikes on key targets, Xinhua reported, citing Li Xi, spokesman for the PLA's Eastern Theater Command.
It would be the third time in recent years that China has conducted large-scale military drills around Taiwan, following unprecedented exercises in August 2022 following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and April 2023 exercises after then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a layover in the United States.
According to an article published by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the “Joint Sword 2024A” exercise was China's response to remarks made by Lai during his inaugural address on May 20 that were unacceptable to China.
In an article published on Friday, US experts said China intends to make large-scale military drills around Taiwan a regular feature to demonstrate its displeasure and punish Taiwan and the US.
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