Taiwanese Foreign Minister Says China Likely Getting Ready For War As Drills Intensify

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th April, 2023) China's military exercises suggest that it may be getting ready to launch a war against Taiwan, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu told CNN.

On April 8, the Chinese military launched three-day exercises and patrols in the sea and airspace around Taiwan. Shi Yi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said on April 10 that the exercises would serve as a warning for the advocates of the island's independence and a necessary measure aimed at upholding China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"Look at the military exercises, and also their rhetoric, they seem to be trying to get ready to launch a war against Taiwan," Wu said in an interview to CNN on Tuesday.

"The Taiwanese government looks at the Chinese military threat as something that cannot be accepted and we condemn it.

" Wu also told CNN.

Commenting on the assessments of the US's intelligence that Xi intends to launch an invasion in 2027, Wu said that Taiwan needs to get ready no matter whether it would be in 2025 or in 2027.

Beijing launched the exercises after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a transit visit to the US on her way back from Guatemala and Belize. The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the contacts between US and Taiwanese officials, calling on Washington to stop upgrading relations with the island.

The situation around Taiwan escalated last August after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to the island. Beijing condemned Pelosi's trip, which it regarded as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military drills in the vicinity of the island.