FALCON POWERS – On Friday, China hinted at expanding what it described as countermeasures against Taiwan if it is “provoked”, and warned Taipei that its president is pushing towards war.
The Chinese military continued military exercises around Taiwan for the second day, including drills to test the ability to seize power and control key areas, which Beijing said it launched to punish Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen.
Reuters reported that the two-day exercises, which began in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of islands controlled by Taiwan near the Chinese coast, took place just three days after Tsai took office. The Chinese Eastern Theater Command posted an animated computer simulation video on its WeChat social media account showing missiles being fired from land, air and sea toward Taiwan, with fireballs falling on the cities of Taipei, Kaohsiung and Hualien, and the text “Sacred weapons to kill separatism” at the end.
A Taiwanese official said the drills included simulations of attacks on foreign ships, and Taiwan condemned China’s actions.
