Retired PLA general calls on mainland China forces to practise retaking of Taiwan

Former PLA general Wang Hongguang, seen in an undated photo, has urged mainland forces to ready to retake Taiwan. Photo: SCMP Pictures

 

 

Remarks on website of hawkish Global Times seen to increase pressure on Taiwan

A retired PLA general has called on mainland forces to begin practising to retake Taiwan, comments Taiwanese analysts said were meant to put more pressure on the island’s president, Tsai ­Ing-wen.

Wang Hongguang, former deputy commander of the Nanjing military area command, said the People’s Liberation Army Navy should step up naval training to seal off the Taiwan Strait, and map out the best routes for its submarines to prepare for attacks.

China plans cross-strait highways with Taiwan

Beijing drafts plan for symbolic bridge, but lacks approval from Taiwanese authorities

The mainland government has recently approved a national road project that includes two cross-strait highways linking both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

If completed, the project would be a literal and figurative bridge between the mainland and Taiwan and would mark a major milestone in cross-strait relations.

However, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the island’s top cross-strait policy planning body, told the South China Morning Post the project had been “unilaterally worked out by mainland authorities“.

“Based on national security concerns and cross-strait interactions, we have not planned anything with such high political sensitivity and complexity,” the council said, spelling out the island’s political and security concerns.