Chinese army steps up drills in southeast that experts say are targeted at Taiwan, US

China’s defence ministry says the army has stepped up drills in the southeast coast to build its ability to handle security threats.

The comment came after the 31st Group Army, affiliated with the newly founded Eastern Theatre Command, conducted a landing exercise on the Fujian coast on Monday.

One of the group’s main tasks is to respond to a proclamation of independence by Taiwan.

“The recent land, air and sea training exercises in the southeast of China is aimed at testing and boosting China’s ability in addressing security threats and fulfilling military mission,” the ministry said on Wednesday.

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Ni Lexiong, a naval expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said the exercises were also targeted at the United States.

“The US does not want to get involved in case of crisis in the Taiwan Strait … China will be able to [indirectly] exert pressure on Taiwan by pressuring the US,” Ni said.

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“The part most worth noticing is that it was a landing exercise … This would make the US feel the pressure,” he said, adding that the landing exercise showed that the army had the ability to take control of Taiwan.

Full article: Chinese army steps up drills in southeast that experts say are targeted at Taiwan, US (South China Morning Post)