(Hualien) Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visited a military base in the east of the island on Tuesday, where he praised the work of Taiwanese soldiers in the face of Chinese military maneuvers last week.
During his visit to the Hualien air base, on the east coast of the island, Mr. Lai congratulated the Taiwanese army for its work “in response to China’s military exercises”, thus discussing for the first time the maneuvers military carried out by Beijing on Thursday and Friday.
“Let’s work together and continue to work hard to make our country safer,” he insisted.
Mr. Lai was inaugurated as president of Taiwan on May 20, under the watchful eye of Beijing, which considers the island as one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying with its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War and the coming to power of the Communists on the continent in 1949.
PHOTO ANN WANG, REUTERS
Soldiers demonstrate with a 105mm howitzer as Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits the military base in Hualien.
Beijing was offended by his inauguration speech. To demonstrate its opposition to what Mr. Lai said was separatist, China carried out military maneuvers around Taiwan for 48 hours on Thursday and Friday.
This “Joint Sword-2024A” exercise aimed to send a signal of disapproval to the authorities of the island territory claimed by Beijing.
“Everyone stands ready 24 hours a day to carry out patrol missions in the air […] Our brothers and sisters demonstrate unwavering determination and exceptional combat skills […] to protect our airspace,” emphasized Mr. Lai.
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had detected three Chinese aircraft, 11 combat ships and Chinese coast guards “around” Taiwan in the past 24 hours.