G7 condemns 'provocative' Chinese military drills around Taiwan
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven have delivered an unusually strong condemnation of China's recent large-scale military drills around Taiwan, expressing 'deep concern' over the 'provocative' and 'destabilizing' drills.
'These increasingly frequent and destabilizing activities are raising cross-Strait tensions and put at risk global security and prosperity,' the ministers said in a statement released Monday.
'G7 members and the larger international community have an interest in the preservation of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,' the statement added. 'We oppose any unilateral actions to threaten such peace and stability, including by force or coercion.'
Members of the G7 — which groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union — 'continue to encourage the peaceful resolution of issues through constructive cross-Strait dialogue,' it said.
Last Wednesday, China's military concluded two days of military exercises near Taiwan that Beijing said included "long-range live-fire drills" and saw it practice simulated strikes on key ports and energy facilities on the democratic island.
China said the drills were intended to "test the troops' capabilities" in areas such as "blockade and control, and precision strikes on key targets,' as Beijing ramps up pressure on Taipei.
The drills, positioned strategically around Taiwan, seemed intended to rehearse cutting off vital shipping lanes essential to both the island and the global economy, experts said.
China views self-ruled Taiwan as its 'core of core issues' and regards the island as a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing regularly deploys military aircraft and warships around the island and has conducted a number of large-scale exercises.
While some experts said the exercises were intended to weigh any response by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, Beijing has hinted that they also highlighted its growing ability to blockade the island while also giving troops a taste of what actual combat would look like.
'Those espousing the view that the People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command's joint exercises were intended to gauge the reaction of the U.S. should also be reminded that the drills were specifically tailored to hone combat readiness and familiarize troops with battlefield conditions to enhance operational capabilities and demonstrate the PLA's ability to crush secessionist forces,' the state-run China Daily newspaper said in an editorial after the drills concluded.
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