China holds ‘shooting’ drills

China's military yesterday held "shooting training" off Taiwan's southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing's control.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activities, including several rounds of full-scale war games during the past three years.

Shortly before 9:00 am, Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement, it had detected 32 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a "joint combat readiness drill" with Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait area.

"During this period it even blatantly violated international practice by setting up a drills area in waters about 40 nautical miles (74 km) off the coast ... without prior warning, claiming that it would carry out 'shooting training'," the ministry added.

Taiwan's major southwestern population centres of Kaohsiung and Pingtung are both home to important naval and air bases. Kaohsiung is also home to Taiwan's largest port, a busy hub for global shipping.

The exercises endanger the safety of international flights and shipping and are a "blatant provocation" to regional peace and stability, the ministry said, adding that it had dispatched its own forces to keep watch.

There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills around Taiwan and its defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's other recent military activity in the region, such as that off Australia's coast, are "proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific," Taiwan's ministry said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule, and has denounced both President Lai Ching-te as a "separatist", and the United States for its support for Taiwan. Earlier yesterday, the ruling Communist Party's leader, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese "reunification".