China conducts LIVE FIRE military drills near Taiwan as World War 3 tensions escalate
CHINA has conducted live-fire drills along the southeast coastline as tensions escalate between Beijing and its “wayward province” Taiwan, according to state television.
Chinese state television showed footage of helicopters firing missiles during an exercise it said was happening on China's southeast coast.
The drills took place off the coast of the city of Quanzhou, in between two groups of islands close to China's coast that Taiwan has controlled since 1949 when defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island at the end of the Chinese civil war.
Taiwan on Wednesday denounced the exercises, saying Beijing was using "cheap verbal intimidation and sabre rattling" to threaten the island.
It is unclear if these were the same exercises that had been flagged as taking place in the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
Chinese state media said the drills were a direct response to "provocations" by Taiwan leaders in what China fears are moves to push for the self-ruled island's formal independence.
Taiwan considers itself an independent nation, but China claims Taiwan as its sacred territory or a wayward province and has never ruled out using military force to bring it under control.
China has ramped up military exercises around Taiwan in the past year, including flying bombers around the island.
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday afternoon two Chinese H-6K bombers had flown around the island, passing first through the Miyako Strait to Taiwan's northeast and then back to base via the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.
The latest Chinese military movements come during a time of heightened tension between Beijing and the island and follows strong warnings by Chinese President Xi Jinping against Taiwan separatism last month.
China's hostility towards Taiwan has grown since Tsai Ing-wen from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won a presidential election on the island in 2016.
China fears she wants to push for the island's formal independence.
Tsai says she is committed to peace and maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, but will defend Taiwan's security.
Taiwan is well equipped with mostly US weapons and is pressing for more advanced equipment to deal with what it sees as rising threat from China.
Although the US does not have formal ties with Taiwan it is bound by law to help it defend itself and is its main source of arms.
Chinese State television only showed pictures of helicopters, with no mention of ships or other military equipment such as tanks or amphibious assault vehicles.
The exercises took place from 8am (12am GMT) until midnight, the report said – giving the same time frame for the previously announced drills in the Taiwan Strait.
The Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the exercise when approached by Reuters, and whether it was the same ones previously reported to be happening in the Taiwan Strait.