Beijing [China], September 28: China wants to continue its military exercises in the strait between the People's Republic and the island of Taiwan.
As long as the "provocations for Taiwan independence" continued, the actions of the People's Liberation Army would not stop, the spokeswoman of the Taiwan Affairs Bureau, Zhu Fenglian, said in Beijing on Wednesday.
The training so far had served the purpose of countering the "arrogance of separatist forces for Taiwan independence," she said. The People's Republic of China, ruled by the Communist Party, considers Taiwan part of its territory. However, the democratic island nation, with more than 23 million inhabitants, has had an independent government for decades.
The Taiwan Strait - between the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian and the island - has recently been the scene of repeated Chinese military exercises, with Chinese military aircraft flying through Taiwan's air defence zone on an almost daily basis. On Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Defence in Taipei reported 32 aircraft and eight Chinese navy ships had been detected around Taiwan within 24 hours, and 16 aircraft had entered the air defence zone.
The number, however, was far below the previous high of Monday last week, when the agency recorded more than 100 Chinese military aircraft.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that thePhilippines' actions in the disputed areas of the South China Sea are "nothing more than self-amusement."
On Monday, Philippine newspaper The Manila Times reported that the Philippines had removed the floating barriers in the South China Sea, saying they were illegally placed by the China Coast Guard (CCG) near the disputed area of Scarborough Shoal.
"I would like to reiterate that Huangyan Dao [Scarborough Shoal] has always been China's territory. What the Philippines did looks like nothing more than self-amusement," Wang told a briefing.
He added that China would continue to safeguard its territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests over Scarborough Shoal. Scarborough Shoal is located about 123 miles west of Subic Bay and is claimed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan.
The territorial affiliation of a number of islands in the South China Sea has been the subject of disputes between China and several other Asia-Pacific countries for decades.
Source: Qatar Tribune
