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China has warned that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and independence for Taiwan are “mutually exclusive” as it has concluded three days of live-fire drills near the self-governed island in response to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent trip to the United States, reports Al Jazeera.
“If we want to protect peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, we must firmly oppose any form of Taiwan independence separatism,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a briefing on Monday.
The war games simulated strikes on Taiwan and encirclement of the island, and a state media report said dozens of planes had practised an “aerial blockade”.
The exercise “comprehensively tested the integrated joint combat ability of multiple military branches under actual combat conditions”, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Command said in a statement.
Shi Yi, spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command, said China’s military will stand ready at all times to defeat any form of “Taiwan independence” and foreign interference.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 70 Chinese military aircraft and 11 vessels around Taiwan. It said its forces monitored the exercises and aircraft, navy vessels and land-based missile systems were tasked with responding to them.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
