China continued its extensive carrier-based military drills around Taiwan on Monday, a show of force that included a record 125 aircraft and the reported encirclement of the island nation.
A spokesperson for China’s Eastern Theater Command, Senior Captain Li Xi, said the operation included personnel from the nation’s air force, army, missile corps, and navy for the purpose of sending a “major warning to those who back Taiwan independence and a signifier of our determination to safeguard our national sovereignty.”
The exercises follow condemnations by Chinese officials over remarks made last week by Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te during his country’s National Day celebrations. In marking the founding of the Republic of China, Lai emphasized his government would continue to “resist annexation or encroachment” by the communist regime.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued a statement characterizing the multi-day deployment as “a strong response to Lai Ching-te’s continued fabrication of ‘Taiwan independence’ nonsense.”
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