Chinese military promises "punishment and bloodshed"
China has just held two days of large-scale maneuvers to encircle Taiwan and practice a blockade in case of invasion. During these exercises, Beijing's armed forces deployed both fighter jets and naval forces.
Three days after William Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan's new president, the Chinese military surprised Thursday morning by announcing the start of military exercises around the autonomous island claimed by China.
Wang Wenbin, spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, said, "All separatist forces in favor of Taiwanese independence will end in blood, with broken heads in the face of the historic event of the complete reunification of China."
Taiwan detected Thursday the presence of 42 Chinese aircraft and 31 Chinese ships around the island and surrounding archipelagos, on the first day of maneuvers launched by Beijing to punish "separatist acts related to Taiwan's independence."
China wants to peacefully bring Taiwan under its sovereignty through commercial diplomacy, but experts believe the Chinese military has an arsenal at its disposal to resolve the Taiwan issue if there is no prospect of peaceful reunification.
(SR and FM for Tagtik/Source: Global Times/Photo: Surface warriors via Wikicommons under license Creative Common CC BY-SA 2.0.)
