(Beijing) China affirmed on Wednesday that it will maintain military pressure on Taiwan as long as the “independence” provocations of the autonomous island continue.
Last week, Beijing carried out two days of major military maneuvers around Taiwan, mobilizing military ships and planes loaded with live munitions to practice seizing and isolating the island.
These exercises began three days after the inauguration speech of the new Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te, considered separatist by Beijing.
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and says it is ready to reconquer it by force if necessary.
On Wednesday, the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in Beijing announced that other military maneuvers could follow those of last week, dubbed “Joint Sword-2024A” (or “United Sharp Swords-2024A”).
“As long as provocations for Taiwan independence continue, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) actions to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity will continue,” said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson. of the TAO, during a press conference.
Mme Zhu called President Lai’s rhetoric “extremely reckless,” adding that it “risks” inevitably leading to a war across the Taiwan Strait and causing serious damage to our compatriots in Taiwan.
“We will never tolerate, condone or allow this, and we must counteract and punish this,” she said.
“The greater the provocation, the stronger the response.”