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Taiwan condemned China on Monday for holding its second military combat drills around the island in less than a month, with the defense ministry saying it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft.
China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and has been ramping up military, political and economic pressure to assert those claims.
The Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said its forces held “joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat drills” in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, focused on land strikes and sea assaults.
The aim was to test joint combat capabilities and “resolutely counter the provocative actions of external forces and Taiwan independence separatist forces”, it added in a brief statement late on Sunday.
Taiwan’s presidential office said China was making “groundless accusations” and strongly condemned the drills, saying the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait and the region were the common responsibility of both Taiwan and China.
Taiwan’s position is very clear, in that it will neither escalate conflicts nor provoke disputes, but will firmly defend its sovereignty and security, the office said in a statement.
