China issues statement after military activities around Taiwan

China's Defense Ministry broke its silence on recent military activities around Taiwan on December 13, saying that whether to hold drills or not was up to China, according to Reuters.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry on December 9 put itself on alert and activated an emergency response center after recording a large increase in Chinese military activity around the island and more broadly in the East and South China Seas, according to Reuters.

The Chinese military has not made any announcement about any ongoing exercises.

China issues statement after military activities around Taiwan

In a statement responding to questions about Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te's recent visits to Hawaii and the US territory of Guam and whether China was holding military exercises, China's Ministry of National Defense did not confirm or deny, saying only that "tactics and trends are always changing."

"Whether to hold exercises and when to hold them is a matter for us to decide according to our own needs and the situation. Regardless of whether to hold exercises or not, the People's Liberation Army will not be absent and will not be soft-hearted in the fight for national independence and reunification," China's Defense Ministry stressed in the statement.

A Chinese H-6 bomber flies over the East China Sea in this photo taken by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on May 24, 2022.

China's Defense Ministry also said any reliance on "foreign forces to seek independence," a phrase China often uses to warn the United States against supporting Taiwan, would be severely punished and "doomed to failure."

Late on December 12, Taiwan's Defense Ministry announced that it had disbanded its emergency response center, signaling the end of China's current military activities, according to Reuters.

As of this morning, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it had only detected 12 Chinese military aircraft operating near the island in 24 hours, down from 34 recorded the previous day.

Taiwan's coast guard also said this morning that nine Chinese coast guard vessels off the southeast and southwest coast of Taiwan headed north after carrying out what Taiwan considered "inappropriate" activities in recent days, according to Reuters.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/trung-quoc-ra-tuyen-bo-sau-nhung-hoat-dong-quan-su-quanh-dai-loan-185241213092429577.htm