TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China announced the end of a large-scale, three-day military drill around Taiwan on Monday (April 10).
The drill, in retaliation to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, began on Saturday morning (April 8). The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command claimed that it was a “planned” event despite there being no announcement prior to the start date.
In a Weibo post, the command wrote that the drill “thoroughly examined” its military’s combat skills “under practical combat conditions.” It added that its “warzone troops” are “on standby at all times and ready to fight at any time” against “Taiwan independence separatists and foreign schemes to intervene.”
Meanwhile, in a letter sent to U.S. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler, who was recently in Taiwan as part of a bipartisan delegation, from the Chinese embassy in the U.S., China claimed that it “has always committed (sic) to the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
On Saturday, in response to China’s drill announcement, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) condemned China for once again leveling military threats against the country. It wrote that the Taiwan government is closely following the situation, though it would remain rational and "not escalate conflicts, not incite disputes."
SETNews reported the council as saying on Monday that while it did not have intelligence on whether Taiwanese media have received instructions from China to increase coverage of the drill, it did observe some media companies citing entire articles or using images and videos from Chinese sources as the drill went on.
According to the MAC, in order to instill fear in the hearts of Taiwanese, China may ask some media in the country to help spread propaganda.
