- The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees Taiwan as a renegade province to be brought back under Beijing’s control – something the authoritarian president Xi Jinping has said he’s willing to do by force
A division of China‘s People’s Liberation Army that oversees the Taiwan Strait has released a video which appears to show its troops practising a coastal invasion of the self-governing island.
The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command published the clip, which features a montage of soldiers storming beaches and driving tanks on dirt roads to a country-style Chinese ballad, on WeChat Thursday.
Though the post did not directly mention Taiwan, the Eastern Theatre Command regularly conducts military drills in the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, the song featured in the video and the accompanying WeChat post were littered with evocative lyrics and phrases like ‘go over the city gate and the high wall’ and ‘no matter how dark it is, don’t be afraid… chase and win the warmest years’.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees Taiwan as a renegade province to be brought back under Beijing’s control – something the authoritarian president Xi Jinping has said he’s willing to do by force.
But Taiwan’s elected Democratic Progressive Party steadfastly argues it presides over a self-governing, democratic, capitalist society with overwhelming support from its people.
It comes as Russia and China launched warships to conduct patrols in the Pacific Ocean and perform rescue training and drills for countering air strikes, Moscow’s defence ministry said Friday.
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Video released by Russian state news agency TASS showed nine large vessels sailing in a diamond formation as crew members stood to attention on deck.
The drills also included practising the ‘replenishment of fuel reserves by ships and the transfer of cargo on the go’, the defence ministry said, adding that the joint detachment of ships had covered more than 6,400 nautical miles since the start of the exercises.
‘A detachment of ships of the Russian Navy and the PLA Navy is currently operating in the waters of the East China Sea,’ said the ministry, referring to China’s People’s Liberation Army.
‘During this period, the sailors of the two countries conducted anti-submarine exercises, repulsed an air strike by a mock enemy, conducted rescue training at sea, and perfected the skills of taking off and landing helicopters on the decks of warships,’ the statement read.
Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer in recent years, as prolonged fighting in Ukraine has shattered Russia’s relationship with Western governments.
A Chinese defence ministry spokesperson said on Monday that naval fleets of the two countries were conducting maritime patrols in western and northern regions of the Pacific Ocean.
‘These actions are not aimed at a third party and are not related to the current international and regional situation,’ the spokesperson added.
Last month, Taiwan held military and civilian conflict preparedness drills of its own as tensions with Beijing continue to mount.
The Han Kuang defence drills have been held annually since 1984, but this year’s war games were more intense than ever before.
In a blatant show of force ahead of Taiwan’s drills, China sent 37 aircraft and seven navy vessels around the island, according to the defence ministry in Taipei.
Among them were J-10 and J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers, and 22 of the detected warplanes crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait – an unofficial boundary that had been considered a buffer between the island and mainland – or entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.
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Self-ruled Taiwan holds frequent defence drills for its military, but the Han Kuang preparation efforts also extend to its civilian population, with authorities stepping up drills in cities, citing lessons learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine where the street-to-street warfare appears to be part of the defence strategy playbook.
Residents in seven counties across northern Taiwan were subjected to emergency scenarios as part of Taiwan’s ‘Wan An’ air defence exercises, which translates to ‘everlasting peace’.
As the sirens sounded in Neihu to signal an incoming missile attack, volunteers guided residents to nearby underground evacuation shelters, where they crouched to the ground and covered their eyes and ears.
In Taipei’s southeastern Nangang district, firefighters simulated putting out a blaze caused by a missile attack on a train station, aiming their hoses at the building, and then rescuing a civilian from it.
Government employee Wu Kai-te, who had hidden in an underground parking lot as part of the drill, said these exercises were necessary because of China’s military threats.
‘Taiwan’s international situation is more special because of the China factor,’ the 37-year-old told AFP.
‘It’s very practical for the public and it teaches us the right poses to take to avoid more damage during a missile attack.’
Taiwan’s army, navy and air force are among some of the most highly trained, technologically advanced and well equipped in the world.
But China’s massive population and vast resources mean Beijing’s military holds the advantage across every conceivable metric.
In terms of sheer numbers, China currently maintains a whopping 2 million active service personnel, far outnumbering Taiwan’s comparatively paltry 170,000-180,000 troops, according to the latest 2023 figures published by Global Firepower.
