China is threatening Taiwan on a daily basis, having flown over 150 warplanes into Taiwan’s airspace in only a couple weeks’ time. On Monday, Bejing’s military said it conducted beach landing and assault drills in the province directly across the sea from the democratically ruled island.
The assault drills were held “in recent days” according to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) statement, located in the southern part of Fujian province, which is directly across the sea from the self-ruled island.
Importantly the official PLA statement didn’t specifically name Taiwan as a factor in the mission preparation and drills; however, the message is unmistakably meant to affirm China won’t back down on its longtime claims to sovereignty over the island.
Reuters describes details of the drills as summarized in Chinese state media as follows:
The action had involved “shock” troops, sappers and boat specialists, the Chinese military newspaper added. The troops were “divided into multiple waves to grab the beach and perform combat tasks at different stages”, it added, without providing further details.
It showed a video of soldiers in small boats storming a beach, throwing smoke grenades, breaking through barbed wire defenses and digging trenches in the sand.
But it was also noted that a small number of troops appeared in the footage, suggesting elite units were involved – and not large-scale marine or infantry forces.
Though taking place firmly within Chinese mainland territory, the geography is important, considering as Reuters notes that “Fujian would be a key launching site for any Chinese invasion of Taiwan due to its geographical proximity.”
The PLA video release of the Fujian drills…
Here’s the trailer to The Battle at Lake Changrin:
Sources: AmericanMilitaryNews, Zerohedge
