CNN \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese military staged a second day of exercises around Taiwan on Wednesday, launching live-fire strikes in the East China Sea and practicing blockade operations near crucial shipping lanes to the east and west of the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China has ramped up the frequency and complexity of its military drills around Taiwan in recent years \u2013 exercises that analysts say serve both as critical preparation and strategic cover for a potential future invasion of the self-governing island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, the People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) launched exercises \u2013 codenamed \u201cStrait Thunder-2025A\u201d \u2013 in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait, focusing on testing the troops\u2019 capabilities of \u201cjoint blockade and control\u201d and \u201cprecision strikes on key targets,\u201d the Eastern Theater Command\u2019s spokesperson Senior Colonel Shi Yi said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the drills, the ground army of the Eastern Theater Command conducted \u201clive-fire long-range strike drills in designated areas of the East China Sea,\u201d Shi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe drills involved precision strikes on simulated targets such as key ports and energy facilities and achieved the intended results,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A video released by the Eastern Theater Command showed PLA soldiers driving military trucks mounted with rocket artillery systems into position under the cover of night. Later, the footage captured rockets streaking into the sky before striking simulated coastal targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PLA did not specify the location of the live-fire drills, but China\u2019s Maritime Safety Administration issued a notice on Tuesday designating a restricted area along the coast of Zhejiang province, banning vessels from entering between 6 p.m. Tuesday and 6 p.m. Thursday due to \u201cmilitary operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, to the east of Taiwan, China\u2019s Shandong aircraft carrier group conducted exercises with PLA naval and air forces, Shi said in a separate statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those drills focused on \u201cship-aircraft coordination, regional air superiority, and strikes against sea and land targets,\u201d with an emphasis on \u201cmulti-dimensional blockade capabilities,\u201d according to the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taiwan\u2019s defense ministry denounced the drills as \u201caggressive, provocative, and irresponsible\u201d on Wednesday, adding that the island\u2019s military will remain on high alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeijing\u2019s reckless provocation of regional tensions, using global security and prosperity as bargaining chips, reveals its hegemonic mindset \u2013 one that treats lives as expendable and dismisses international rules altogether,\u201d the ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wednesday\u2019s drills came a day after the PLA conducted surprise joint exercises involving its army, navy, air force and rocket force from multiple directions around Taiwan, just days after US defense chief Pete Hegseth vowed to counter \u201cChina\u2019s aggression\u201d on his first visit to Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States, Taiwan\u2019s biggest international backer, condemned what it called \u201cChina\u2019s irresponsible threats and military pressure operations near Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChina\u2019s escalating military intimidation tactics only serve to exacerbate tensions and undermine cross-Strait peace and stability,\u201d the State Department said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CNN \u2014 The Chinese military staged a second day of exercises around Taiwan on Wednesday, launching live-fire strikes in the East China Sea and practicing blockade operations near crucial shipping lanes to the east and west of the island. China has ramped up the frequency and complexity of its military drills around Taiwan in recent years \u2013 exercises that analysts say serve both as critical preparation and strategic cover for a potential future invasion of the self-governing island. On Wednesday, the People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) launched exercises \u2013 codenamed \u201cStrait Thunder-2025A\u201d \u2013 in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45966,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45964\/revisions\/45966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}