China’s Biggest Military Exercises

It was reported that China launched the biggest military exercises on 5th, called `Liberation No. 1`, on the Dongshan Island in the Fujian province adjacent to Taiwan. 100,000 of Chinese soldiers were reported to have participated in the exercises. Taiwan also called the military to be in an alert status and the army commander inspected the military units on the Jinmen Island adjacent to the mainland China. Taiwan was reported to have arranged the Tiangung missiles (100 km) aimed toward the mainland China. The local press announced yesterday that 10,000 soldiers from the Nanjing army base moved to the Dongshan Island in the middle of May for the military exercise and other troops from Fujian and Kwangdong were also in the middle of transferring. This exercise is China’s biggest military exercise in Taiwan Strait. The Chinese foreign ministry announced that the exercise was ``a regular activity to improve the capacity of the military strategy of the people’s liberation army.`` However, Beijing’s military observers viewed that this exercise intended to underscore China’s strong opposition to the movement of the independence within Taiwan. Dongshan Island is a place in which the Chinese army was involved in the mopping-up operations of the Guomindang after the Guomindang had retreated to Taiwan in 1949.

Lee Jong-Hwan ljhzip@donga.com