PLA conducts drills around Taiwan in response to external provocations

The Chinese People's Liberation Army on Tuesday launched joint live-fire assault drills in multiple locations near the island of Taiwan in response to recent collusion and provocations by the United States and Taiwan secessionists.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command on Tuesday dispatched warships, anti-submarine warfare aircraft and fighter jets in surrounding maritime and aerial areas near the southwest and southeast of the island of Taiwan for military exercises, including joint live-fire assaults, and also for testing the command troops' integrated joint operation capabilities, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson of the command, announced.

Recently, the US and Taiwan authorities have been frequently colluding and making provocations, sending wrong signals that violate China's sovereignty and seriously damage peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. They have become the biggest source of security risk in the region, Shi said. The exercises are a solemn response to the foreign interferences and the provocations by "Taiwan independence" forces.