China says military drills near Taiwan a 'just' move

Chinese military exercises near Taiwan are targeted at forces promoting the island's formal independence and are a "just" move to protect peace and stability, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said on Oct. 13.

It also said the exercises are aimed at interference by external forces.

Military tensions with China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, are at their worst in more than 40 years, Taiwan's defense minister said last week, adding China will be capable of mounting a "full scale" invasion by 2025.

He was speaking after China mounted four straight days of mass air force incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone that began Oct. 1, part of a pattern of what Taipei views as stepped up military harassment by Beijing.

Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the cause of current tensions was Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) "collusion" with foreign force and "provocations" over seeking Taiwan's independence.

Chinese drills are aimed at this collusion - a veiled reference to U.S. support for Taiwan - and separatist activities, protecting the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, he added.

"They are absolutely just actions," Ma said.

"The DPP authorities' hyping of the so-called 'military threat' of the mainland is to completely invert right and wrong, and a bogus accusation," he added.

"If the DPP authorities obstinately persist in going about things the wrong way, and do not know how to draw back from the edge, it will only push Taiwan into a more dangerous situation."

Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of...