(Beijing) Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday said the Chinese military must “dare to fight” as he inspected units operating in an area near Taiwan, Chinese television reported.
Xi’s visit comes at an important moment in diplomacy with the United States – Taiwan’s main security backer – as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is currently in Beijing trying to stabilize relations between Beijing and Washington and improve bilateral trade relations.
During his inspection of the Nanjing-based People’s Liberation Army Eastern Region Command, Xi told officials he met that they should “dare to fight, know how to fight well, and be resolute. to defend national sovereignty and security,” according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“There is a need to deepen our war and combat planning […]to focus on real combat training, and to accelerate the improvement of our ability to win,” he said.
The army must also “raise the capacity of the leaders of the party committee to prepare for war and to fight”, he again launched, still quoted by CCTV.
China regards Taiwan as one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It says it is determined to regain control of it one day, by force if necessary.
The question of Taiwan is the most sensitive of the disputes between Beijing and Washington.
China has thus launched during the past year large-scale military exercises around the island after official meetings between senior American and Taiwanese officials.
In April, Chinese forces carried out maneuvers simulating a blockade of Taiwan, just after a meeting in the United States between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.