ISTANBUL
China said Wednesday it has lodged protests after Japan, Australia, the EU conveyed their “concern” to Beijing after it held massive drills around Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday.
Beijing “firmly opposes this and has lodged stern representations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters.
These countries and institutions “have turned a deaf ear to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces' attempts to seek ‘independence’ through forces and turned a blind eye to external forces' interference in China's internal affairs,” Lin said, according to Beijing-based daily Global Times.
“Yet, they make irresponsible comments on China's necessary actions to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, inverting right and wrong and confusing truth with falsehood. This is utterly hypocritical,” said Lin.
China held two-day “Justice Mission 2025” joint military drills around Taiwan, deploying naval, coast guard vessels, flying military jets as well as drones and firing rockets in “stern warning against Taiwan separatist forces.”
Warning against external interference in Taiwan, Beijing launched drills on Monday, days after the US approved a one-time record sale of arms worth over $11 billion to Taipei.
Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te said Chinese military drills showed it was “not the behavior of a responsible world power.”
“Taiwan will not provoke a confrontation, nor seek conflict with China," he said Tuesday.
Japan conveys ‘concerns’
Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Kitamura Toshihiro said in a statement that the "recent military exercises conducted by the Chinese military around Taiwan constitute actions that increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and the government of Japan has conveyed its concerns to the Chinese side.”
“It has been the consistent position of the government of Japan that it expects that the issue surrounding Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue,” Kitamura said.
“Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are important for the international community as a whole. We will continue to monitor related developments with strong interest,” Kitamura said.
EU Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said Tuesday that the Chinese military exercise “further increases cross-strait tensions and endangers international peace and stability.”
“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are of strategic importance for regional and global security and prosperity," said Hipper.
New Zealand, Australia react
Reacting to Chinese drills, New Zealand said Wednesday that it “is concerned by another occurrence of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.”
“We call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through de-escalation and dialogue, and for the avoidance of actions that may undermine peace and stability,” New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on US social media company X.
A statement from Australian Foreign Ministry Wednesday said that China’s military and coast guard exercises around Taiwan “are deeply concerning, destabilizing and risk inflaming regional tensions.”
“Australia opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Peace and stability are in all our interests.” the statement added.
The Philippines’ Defense Department is “deeply concerned” about the drills that “undermine regional peace and stability, further creating cracks in an already fragile geopolitical environment,” said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro in a statement.
“Basic principles of self-restraint must be observed, and the rule of international law must not be distorted,” he added.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it detected 77 Chinese military aircraft, 17 Chinese naval vessels and eight official Chinese ships operating around the island early Wednesday.
“We have monitored the situation and responded,” the ministry said in a statement on US social media company X.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Li Xi said Wednesday that the drills were “successfully” completed, and the integrated joint operations capabilities of its troops “fully tested,” in a statement on the PLA’s website.
China’s military “will remain on high alert at all times, keep strengthening combat readiness through arduous training, resolutely thwart the attempts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatists and external intervention, and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
