China said Friday that ongoing drills encircling Taiwan were aimed at testing its military capacity to “seize power” in the self-ruled island, according to state media.
The two-day exercises, which kicked off Thursday morning, aim to test the “ability to seize power and joint strikes, as well as control key territories”, said Li Xi, door -spokesperson of the Chinese Army’s Eastern Theater Command.
On Thursday, military ships and planes surrounded Taiwan, with Beijing saying these operations were a “serious warning” to the island’s “separatists” who will end “in blood”.
Called “Joint Sword-2024A”, they come after the inauguration speech this week of Lai Ching-te, the new president of the island, whose remarks were judged in Beijing as an affirmation that the island was independent – an absolute red line for China.
Taiwan “will defend the values of freedom and democracy”, he reacted. “I will stand on the front lines with our brothers and sisters in the military to defend national security together.”
China believes that Taiwan is one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in reunifying with its territory since the end of the civil war in 1949, while the nationalists took refuge on the island after their defeat by communist forces.
Chinese media in full swing against Taiwan
Posters with a martial tone, videos of soldiers on a war footing and threats: the state media in China showed no restraint in justifying the “punishment” against the “independence fighters” of Taiwan, in support of the exercises military encircling Taiwan.
These maneuvers are carried out with great emphasis on communication in the state media.
In a video posted online by state television CCTV, accompanied by martial music, sailors rush down the stairs of a warship, before rushing into what appears to be a command room.
On a military base, a pilot takes possession of a plane, in a posture reminiscent of the actor Tom Cruise in the film Top Gun.
“The independence of Taiwan and peace in the strait”, which separates the island from mainland China, are “incompatible”, assures the Chinese army on the social network WeChat.
These exercises are a “serious warning” addressed to “external forces”, she insists with a formulation that refers to the United States, Taiwan’s primary military supporter.
” Wrong Way “
“All separatist forces supporting the independence of Taiwan will end in blood and with their heads broken,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy.
If Washington has recognized Beijing to the detriment of Taipei as a legitimate power since 1979, the American Congress has at the same time imposed the provision of weapons to Taiwan, with the stated aim of deterring China from any desire to attack.
“Relying on foreign countries is taking the wrong path,” swears the Chinese army, assuring that for Taiwan “the search for independence is doomed to failure.”
Posters, like war films, accompany these slogans. One of them shows a Chinese landing in Taiwan, with warship, helicopter and tanks in action.
Others show missile launchers pointing at the island, or a stealth fighter plane on the lookout for any movement of “independence” people. The triangular shape of the device is compared to the edge of a sword.
A pool of blood appears on these posters with Hollywood graphics and patriotic fiber.
“Caged”
The daily Global Times, with a resolutely nationalist tone, gives the floor to an analyst: the Chinese army “has the capacity to carry out an all-out attack on the entire island” of Taiwan, believes the expert .
The media decipher the current exercises, intended in particular, according to them, to organize a “blockade” of Taiwan, to cut off the island from resupplies.
New Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called on Monday in his inauguration speech for China to “stop its political and military intimidation”.
He “showed himself to be arrogant”, exclaims the former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, the media and controversial Hu Xijin, known for his often undiplomatic remarks.
Thanks to the “power” of the Chinese army, the Taiwanese president “was caged like a bird”, he wrote to his millions of subscribers on social networks.