BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s military on Tuesday said it had begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to “serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”, calling Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-Te a “parasite”.
China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically governed Taiwan under its control, has stepped up military and political pressure against the island in recent years.
“The focus is on exercises such as combat readiness patrols at sea and in the air, seizing comprehensive control, striking maritime and land targets and imposing blockade controls on key areas and routes,” a statement from Eastern Theater Command said on its official WeChat social media account.
A poster accompanying the drills titled “Closing In,” and showing Chinese warships and fighter jets circling the island, was released shortly after the announcement on the Eastern Theater Command’s Weibo.
A video titled “Shell”, and depicting Lai Ching-Te as a cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan, was on the Eastern Theater Command’s WeChat page.
“Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction,” the animation said.
(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry)
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