PLA conducts live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait after Beijing calls Lai speech ‘reckless’
Beginning of exercise coincides with completion of Beijing’s fisheries resources survey conducted in waters east of Taiwan
The drill will run from 6am to 6pm on Thursday and Friday, according to a navigation warning issued by Beijing’s maritime safety administration on Wednesday.
In Lai’s speech at the DPP annual convention on Sunday, he called on party members to oppose the “red terror” coming from Beijing.
On Wednesday, Zhang Han, spokeswoman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Lai’s remarks “exposed his unchanging ‘Taiwan independence’ stance” and that his latest speech “recklessly challenged the one-China principle”.
Based on the coordinates provided by the maritime safety administration, the drill on Thursday covers an area bounded by five points in waters to the east and south of Dongshan Island, which is part of Zhangzhou in Fujian province.
The drill extends into waters east of Dongshan Island towards the Taiwan Strait, with all drill zones within 12km (7.4 miles) of the mainland coast.
On Friday, the drill will be conducted in a rectangular nearshore maritime zone south of Dongshan Island and closer to the Dongshan coastline. The two areas partially overlap, based on the coordinates.