PLA holds joint drills surrounding Taiwan island in responding to Lai Ching-te
PLA holds joint drills surrounding Taiwan island in responding to Lai Ching-te
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday morning launched a military exercise surrounding the island of Taiwan in a move to punish “Taiwan independence” secessionist forces and to send a warning to belligerent external forces following Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te’s separatist inaugural speech on May 20.
As we can see on the map, the drill is designed to surround the island of Taiwan from both the east and the west, the exercises display the PLA’s strike capability across all directions of the island without any blind spots, forming a situation where the island is pinned down from both sides. The drills are also being conducted in the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin.
China sanctions 12 US defense corporations and 10 individuals
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced countermeasures against 12 US defense corporations and 10 US individuals.
The latest targets for China’s countermeasures include Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Raytheon Missile Systems, and senior executives of General Dynamics Information Technology. In Wednesday’s announcement, the Chinese foreign ministry cited China’s Anti-foreign Sanctions Law, noting that the US has imposed illegal unilateral sanctions on multiple Chinese entities under the pretext of alleged Russian factors, engaging in unilateral bullying and economic coercion.
The foreign ministry also stressed that the US has continued to sell weapons to the Taiwan region of China, seriously violating the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, interfering in China’s internal affairs, and seriously undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.