TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Residents and military personnel stationed on the island of Kinmen off the coast of China’s Fujian Province were stoical after two days of Chinese military drills, reports said Thursday (May 23).
Beijing announced Thursday morning it would launch two days of maneuvers labeled “Joint Sword-2024A” involving land, sea, air, and rocket forces surrounding Taiwan and its outlying islands.
In a reaction to China’s moves, the Army’s Kinmen Defense Command said it had not raised the alert level, while local fishers said they would still go out to sea as they needed to make a living, the China Times reported. The military said it had nevertheless told coastal observation posts to increase their vigilance and monitor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The local fisheries association was not calling on fishing crews to stay in port, but asked them to report any unusual movements by Chinese military or civilian vessels. The group said it would pass the information on to Taiwan’s intelligence agencies.
On Thursday morning there was reduced activity around Kinmen’s harbors due to poor weather conditions rather than Chinese drills, the report said. Fishing crews said they were not expecting trouble as long as they stayed out of Chinese waters. Since the beginning of May, Chinese Coast Guard vessels have entered restricted Taiwanese waters seven times.
