China Concludes Military Drills Around Taiwan
A Chinese fighter plane. X/ @firstpost
April 2, 2025 Hour: 9:10 am
The ‘Strait-Thunder 2025A’ maneuvers included naval blockades, precision strikes on key facilities, and projectile launches.
On Wednesday, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) announced the conclusion of its military exercises around Taiwan, which included long-range live-fire drills in the East China Sea.
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Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, stated that the troops “completed all designated tasks” during the joint maneuvers conducted between April 1 and 2.
“The exercises effectively tested the integrated capabilities of joint operations,” Shi added, emphasizing that the Theater’s forces “maintain a high level of alert” and will continue strengthening their combat readiness through intensive training. He assured that the PLA will continue to act “firmly” against any “separatist” activity aimed at achieving Taiwan’s “independence.”
The ‘Strait-Thunder 2025A’ maneuvers included naval blockades, precision strikes on key facilities, and projectile launches in a restricted area of the East China Sea, approximately 400 kilometers from Taiwan.
During the second day of the military drills, at least 36 aircraft, 13 military ships, and 10 Chinese Coast Guard vessels were present in the vicinity of Taiwan. On Monday, 76 aircraft and 15 warships were reported near the island territory.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed “separatist forces” and “foreign interference” for the rising tensions, in a clear reference to the United States and the European Union.
The ‘Strait-Thunder 2025A’ maneuvers took place weeks after Taiwanese President William Lai described China as a “hostile external force” and announced initiatives to counter Beijing’s “infiltration” operations against the island. Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949 and has its own Armed Forces as well as a political, economic, and social system distinct from that of China.
Beijing has always considered Taiwan an inalienable part of Chinese territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve the reunification of the island with the mainland—one of the goals set by President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
