Beijing stages drills ahead of Taiwan inauguration

China’s Defence Ministry said recent military drills on its south-eastern coast were annual exercises, after Chinese media suggested they could have been timed ahead of the inauguration of a new Taiwanese President from a pro-independence party.

Chinese state media had reported that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has carried out at least three landing exercises on the country’s south-east coast since the beginning of this month.

The largest drill was conducted in recent days by a regiment under the PLA’s 31st Group Army, which is based in coastal Fujian province, across the strait from Taiwan, said the official China Daily newspaper yesterday.

Armaments used included WZ-10 attack helicopters — China’s most powerful — along with ZTD-05A amphibious assault vehicles, Type-96 main battle tanks and HJ-9 anti-tank missile launchers.

The Chinese Defence Ministry said the drills were intended to increase responsiveness to “security threats”.

“These drills are routine arrangements conducted according to annual training plans,” said the ministry in a short statement on its website. “They do not target any specific objective. Relevant individuals should not over-interpret.”

China and self-ruled Taiwan underwent a rapprochement under the outgoing government, which was run by China-friendly Nationalists. But ties with the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Dr Tsai Ing-wen, who is set to be sworn in as President tomorrow, have become strained.

The ministry made a similar statement after state media broadcast footage of live-fire military and landing drills just days after the landslide Taiwan election win in January by Dr Tsai and the DPP.

Chinese state media have made no mention of Taiwan in the reports on the exercises, though some Chinese domestic media have hinted that the timing might be coordinated ahead of Dr Tsai’s inauguration to deter pro-independence moves.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said the recent footage in Chinese state media of the drills involved annual PLA exercises and that it had “a grasp” of the situation, but declined to comment further. AGENCIES