China has deployed troops near Taiwan in the latest war developments as they announced their latest military exercises. The joint combat strike drills are intended to discourage separatism, according to Chinese officials.
China has announced a military exercise near Taiwan on the eve of visits by German and Lithuanian lawmakers to the self-governed island. The drill has been described as countering “separatist forces.” According to a report by RT, the training exercise was announced on Sunday by Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). He said it would involve sea and airspace maneuvers around Taiwan, focusing on land strikes and amphibious assault action.
The exercise was “designed to test the joint combat capabilities of the troops and resolutely counteract the provocative actions of external forces and ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists,” a statement said.
The exercise comes amid a visit to Taiwan by a delegation of German MPs from the Free Democratic Party, which is part of the country’s ruling coalition. The group is being led by Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the chair of the Bundestag Defense Committee, and Johannes Vogel, a deputy chair of the party.
This leads to questions about whether or not an invasion is incoming.
Should an “invasion” of Taiwan occur, war games suggest that the Chinese would be victorious. A Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2026 would result in thousands of casualties among Chinese, United States, Taiwanese and Japanese forces, and it would be unlikely to result in a victory for Beijing, according to a prominent independent Washington think tank, which conducted war game simulations of a possible conflict that is preoccupying military and political leaders in Asia and Washington.
According to CNN, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has refused to rule out the use of military force to bring the island under Beijing’s control. Beijing considers any treatment of Taiwan as a sovereign nation, including formal visits by foreign officials, as undermining the “One China” policy that outlines its claim to the island. Chinese officials have accused Washington of deliberately eroding the long-standing arrangement.
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