Chinese military responded to Taiwanese separatists with United Sword exercises

By Alimat Aliyeva

On May 23, the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) began two days of large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait and around the island of Taiwan, Azernews reports.

The exercises, codenamed "United Sword-2024A", are held in the northern, southern and eastern waters around Taiwan Island, as well as the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Ouchi and Donin. The exercises, which involved land, air, naval and missile forces, focused on strengthening joint combat capability and patrolling at sea and in the air, joint integrated battlefield management and joint precision strikes against key targets.

The CPC statement said that the Taiwan Independence military exercises are a resolute response to separatist activities and a harsh response to foreign forces that seek to interfere in China's internal affairs and commit sabotage.

It should be noted that on May 20, the swearing-in ceremony of the new head of the separatist organization in Taiwan, Lai Jing-de, took place. The opinions expressed by Lai Jing-de during his speech at the "swearing-in ceremony", as well as the participation of political figures from a number of countries in the ceremony, as well as the congratulations of Lai Jing-de by some officials, including US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, caused serious dissatisfaction in official Beijing.

Recall that during the civil war after World War II, the Communists led by Mao Zedong announced the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Kuomintang troops under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek moved to the island of Taiwan and declared the continuation of the existence of the Republic of China. The island retains the flag and some attributes of the Republic of China before the formation of the PRC. Official Beijing does not recognize the existence of the so-called Republic of China on Taiwan and considers the island a province of China. Official Beijing demands that countries with diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China sever political ties with the separatist entity in Taiwan.

The Taiwan issue is the most sensitive issue in Sino-American relations. Official Beijing considers the issue of Taiwan to be the main red line that cannot be crossed in relations between China and the United States. China demands that the United States does not support Taiwan's "independence" and does not arm the island.