The Chinese military said Wednesday that its Navy and Air Force conducted a “combat readiness patrol” around the self-ruling island of Taiwan.
China justified the exercise as a “necessary action” against what it calls a “US-Taiwan collusion”.
China and Taiwan
China claims democratically-governed Taiwan, 100 miles east of its coastline, as its territory.
Over the past two years, Beijing has steadily established its military forces around Taipei to pressure the island country to surrender control.
The United States
Expressing its opposition in a statement, the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command warned Taiwan of the consequences if the country accepted any assistance from the US.
The Command said, “Recently, the United States has frequently made moves on the Taiwan issue, saying one thing and doing another, instigating support for Taiwan independence forces, which will push Taiwan into a dangerous situation.”
The Command’s statement did not mention when the patrol happened, but Taiwan this week reported an incursion of over 30 Chinese planes into its Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Monday.
