TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday (May 23) announced that it is holding military exercises around Taiwan and its outer islands as “punishment” for those seeking independence.
The PLA's Eastern Theater Command is organizing a military exercise involving land, sea, air, and rocket forces. The exercises started Thursday morning and will continue until Friday (May 24), taking place around Taiwan and its islands closest to China.
The Eastern Theater Command said that from 7:45 a.m., the PLA will conduct joint exercises called “Joint Sword-2024A” in the Taiwan Strait, around northern, southern, and eastern Taiwan, and Kinmen and Matsu.
Li Xihai (李熹海), spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command, said the drills include joint sea and aerial combat readiness patrols, battlefield control, and precision attacks on critical targets. The drills will involve warships and aircraft approaching Taiwan's periphery for combat patrols, and coordinated actions within and beyond the island chain, testing the PLA's joint operational combat capabilities.
The Eastern Theater Command said this is "a strong punishment for ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces seeking ‘independence’ and a serious warning against interference and provocation by external forces."
In a map uploaded to the Eastern Theater Command's Weibo page, five large exclusion zones have been marked to Taiwan's northwest, east, southeast, southwest, and west. In addition, the four circles have been drawn over Kinmen's main cluster of islands, Wuqiu, Matsu's main cluster of islands, and Dongyin.
