Taiwan political parties slam Chinese military drills

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) Parties and figures from across Taiwan's political spectrum slammed China on Monday after it launched military drills surrounding the country.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced early Monday that it had launched military drills, code-named "Joint Sword-2024B," in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan, as a "stern warning to the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces."

The announcement of the drills came four days after President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) delivered his first National Day address, in which he said China has "no right to represent Taiwan" and reiterated that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are "not subordinate" to each other.

In response to the developments, Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it "strongly condemned" Beijing over the "irrational" and "provocative" exercises.

China's use of coercion and military threats "will not be accepted by the Taiwanese people and will not change the current reality that neither side of the Taiwan Strait is subordinate to the other," the DPP said in a news release.

Echoing a claim made by the government, the DPP said Lai had expressed "goodwill" toward China in his National Day speech, only to have its content "maliciously distorted" by Beijing.

The main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which often advocates for seeking improved ties with Beijing, called the drills "deeply regrettable."

China's military drills "severely affect" regional security and harm the relations of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) said.

The KMT's stance has always been to defend the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's official name) and maintain security in the Taiwan Strait, Yang said, adding that both sides of the strait should engage in "exchanges and dialogue" rather than hostility and opposition.

New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the KMT's unsuccessful 2024 presidential candidate, dismissed the drills as "provocative behaviors" that would only increase the antipathy that people in Taiwan feel toward China.

Meanwhile, the smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) said it "strongly condemned" any actions by the Chinese government to threaten or harass Taiwan.

The TPP "particularly condemns China's use of military exercises as a tool for intimidating the Taiwanese people," the party said in a press statement.

In separate remarks, TPP legislative caucus convener Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that while Lai's speech would be subject to judgment and criticism by the Taiwanese public, it was not the business of "communist China."

China previously held similar large-scale military drills encircling Taiwan on May 23-24, just days after Lai's presidential inauguration.

It also conducted large-scale military exercises in August 2022, following a visit to Taiwan by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.