Xi Jinping asks military forces to prepare for ‘actual combat', show preparedness

As the People's Liberation Army [PLA] Ground Force staged the three-day military drills codenamed ‘United Sharp Sword’ in the vicinity of Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged its military to demonstrate readiness for "real combat". Xi's remarks came just days after the PLA simulated precision strikes on the self-governing island of Taiwan which the PRC boasts as its own, inalienable sovereign territory away from the mainland, and threatens to take it by using force. 

During a speech at the navy base in Southern China this week, China's President Xi Jinping called for its military to show preparedness and strengthen “military training oriented toward actual combat,” the state-run CCTV channel reported. He named the defence of Beijing’s “territorial sovereignty and maritime interests” and protection of “overall peripheral stability” as PLAAN's core mission. Xi's instructions came as Beijing sent nine warships and some 71 warplanes into Taiwan Strait escalating regional tensions and fear of confrontation. 

PLA Navy, jets simulating to 'encircle' the island

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesman for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, was reported saying that the war vessels and fighter jets were simulating to “encircle” the island. And that the drills were meant as a warning “against the collusion between separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and external forces, and against their provocative activities.” The drills were ordered as Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, last week in California.

This would be the second time that Tsai has held a meeting with a US House speaker in less than a year. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a controversial visit to the self-administered island despite China's opposition. While Taiwan has been de facto independent since 1949, only a handful of countries recognise its sovereignty including the US. Beijing lays territorial claims over Taiwan under the 'One-China Policy.'

Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-chang had previously warned that China's People Liberation Army (PLA) will be well-prepared to invade Taiwan by 2025 in order to recapture the island. Kuo-chang noted that given the ongoing aggression displayed by the PLA, including infringing the Taiwan Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) and conducting naval drills along the Taiwan Strait, China will acquire "complete capability" to storm the island within two years.