Mainland Chinese forces held an amphibious landing drill in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, as Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te celebrated his first year in office.
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The People’s Liberation Army 73rd Group Army exercised tactics and skills of near-shore driving and landing operations with armoured amphibious vehicles on a beach on the southern Fujian coast, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“We are prepared for war at any second,” a soldier named Qian Bo was quoted as saying. “Our training has become more practical … We believe when the day comes, we will have no problem to immediately respond, to fight, and to win,” said another soldier, Bo Shaopu.
The 73rd Group Army, headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian province, garrisons less than 30km (about 18 miles) opposite Taiwan-controlled Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, on the western side of the strait and is regarded as the PLA’s most frontline troops against Taiwan.
The drill was conducted on the same day Lai made his one-year administrative speech, in which he pledged to strengthen the island’s defence and self-reliance to ensure security and stability against increasing cross-strait tension.
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Chen Binhua, spokesman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Tuesday afternoon, after Lai’s speech, that recent comments by the Taiwanese leader suggested consistency with the Taiwan-independence position.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry reported a total of 15 sorties by PLA aircraft and eight PLA naval vessels, alongside one official mainland Chinese ship that was observed manoeuvring near the island on the previous day.