(TibetanReview.net, Apr08’23) – China has announced three days of military drills around Taiwan while imposing sanctions on two organizations and four individuals associated with them in the United States, as well as on a “diehard Taiwan independence” separatist there following the visit of the self-ruled island’s President Tsai Ing-wen. The announcements were made separately by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, China’s ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said eight Chinese warships and 42 fighter jets were detected around the island on Apr 8, reported the AFP. The show of force came a day after President Tsai landed in Taipei after meeting US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.
Tsai has said Apr 8 that Taiwan has “faced continued authoritarian expansionism” in recent years, making cooperation between democratic nations even more vital.
From Apr 8 to 10, the PLA Eastern Theater Command will hold combat alert patrols and “Joint Sword” exercises in the Taiwan Straits, as well as the sea and air regions to the north, south, and east of the island of Taiwan, encircling it, China’s official globaltimes.cn Apr 8 cited Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson at PLA Eastern Theater Command, as saying in a press release.
This is a stern warning to “Taiwan independence” secessionist forces and their collusion with external forces, and a necessary move to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Shi has said.
The patrols and drills will encircle the island of Taiwan from all four directions, effectively blockading and isolating it, with no foreign interference forces capable of entering or armed forces from the island of Taiwan capable of leaving, Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator has said.
The PLA operations were stated to be divided into two parts: combat alert patrols and joint exercises.
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Earlier, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Apr 7 that Beijing had decided to take countermeasures against the Hudson Institute, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and relevant people in charge of these organizations.
The two organizations provided a platform and convenience for Tsai’s separatist activities seeking “Taiwan independence,” seriously violating the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, and seriously infringing upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the official Xinhua news agency Mar 7 cited China’s Foreign Ministry as saying in a statement.
Countermeasures will also be taken against four individuals, Sarah May Stern, John P Walters, John Heubusch, and Joanne M. Drake, who are in charge of these two organizations, the statement was further cited as saying.
What this was stated t to mean, it was explained, was that the four people’s movable properties, real estates and all other assets in China will be frozen, and all organizations and individuals in China are prohibited from engaging in transactions and cooperation with them, while the four are also banned from obtaining Chinese visas or entering the country.
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China also said on Apr 7 it had imposed sanctions against Hsiao Bi-khim, calling her a diehard “Taiwan independence” separatist, adding it will take all other necessary punitive measures to hold her accountable in accordance with the law.
The spokesperson of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee was authorized Apr 7 to announce sanctions against Hsiao, who is now the representative of the island’s secession-desiring Democratic Progressive Party authorities in the United States, reported the official chinadaily.com.cn Apr 7.
The report said the sanctions banned her and her family from entering the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
Also banned were stated to be Hsiao’s sponsors and affiliated enterprises from cooperating with mainland organizations and individuals.
History has proven and will continue to prove that “Taiwan independence” is a dead end, and the die-hard “Taiwan independence” separatists who rely on the willful provocation of external forces will surely fail, the spokesperson was further quoted as saying.