2022年8月9日，台湾屏东，台湾士兵在实弹演习中发射火炮。台湾军方举行了一次实弹射击演习，模拟防御中国入侵，此前中国最近在台湾周围的六个海域进行了实弹射击演习里奇b通戈，环境保护署-埃菲社

台湾凤岗镇——台湾周二举行了一场模拟防御攻击的炮兵演习，其最高外交官指责北京方面在数天的大规模中国军事演习后准备入侵该岛。

上周，中国在台湾周边展开了有史以来最大规模的海空演习，以此对美国众议院议长南希佩洛西(南希佩洛西)的访问做出强烈回应。佩洛西是几十年来访问这个自治岛屿的最高级别美国官员。

台湾生活在中国入侵的持续威胁下，中国认为其邻国是中国领土的一部分，有朝一日将被占领，如有必要将动用武力。

中国外交部长吴钊燮周二在一个新闻发布会上说，中国在军事演习中利用这些演习为入侵台湾做准备。

"China's real intention is to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and entire region," he said.

The Chinese military said its Taiwan drills continued Tuesday and involved air and sea units.

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The Eastern Theater command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement that it was conducting training exercises around the island, "focusing on joint blockade and joint support operations".

Taipei's drill started in the southern county of Pingtung shortly after 0040 GMT (8:40 a.m. in Manila) with the firing of target flares and artillery, ending just under an hour later at 9:30 a.m., said Lou Woei-jye, spokesman for Taiwan's Eighth Army Corps.

Soldiers fired from howitzers tucked into the coast, hidden from view of the road that leads to popular beach destination Kenting.

The drills, which will also take place Thursday, included the deployment of hundreds of troops and about 40 howitzers, the army said.

On Monday, Lou told AFP the drills had been scheduled previously and were not in response to China's exercises.

The island routinely stages military drills simulating defense against a Chinese invasion, and last month practiced repelling attacks from the sea in a "joint interception operation" as part of its largest annual exercises.

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'NOT WORRIED'

The anti-landing exercise took place after China extended its own joint sea and air drills around Taiwan on Monday, but Washington said it did not expect an escalation from Beijing.

"I'm not worried, but I'm concerned they're moving as much as they are. But I don't think they're going to do anything more than they are," Biden told reporters at Dover Air Force Base.

Taiwan's Wu on Tuesday condemned Beijing for pressing on with military exercises around the island, accusing them of trying to control the Taiwan Strait and waters in the wider Asia-Pacific region.

"It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyber-attacks, a disinformation campaign and economic coercion in order to weaken public morale in Taiwan," he said.

Wu went on to thank Western allies, including the US after Pelosi's visit, for standing up to China.

"It also sends a clear message to the world that democracy will not bow to the intimidation of authoritarianism," he said.

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Taiwan has insisted that no Chinese warplanes or ships entered its territorial waters -- within 12 nautical miles of land -- during Beijing's drills.

The Chinese military, however, released a video last week of an air force pilot filming the island's coastline and mountains from his cockpit, showing how close it had come to Taiwan's shores.

Its ships and planes have also regularly crossed the median line -- an unofficial demarcation between China and Taiwan that the former does not recognize -- since drills began last week.

Ballistic missiles were fired over Taiwan's capital, Taipei, during the exercises last week, according to Chinese state media.

'ISSUING A WARNING'

On Tuesday, the Chinese military released more details about the anti-submarine drills it had conducted a day earlier around the island.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater command said the exercises were aimed at enhancing the ability of air and sea units to work together while hunting submarines.

It said maritime patrol aircraft, fighter jets, helicopters and a destroyer practiced locating and attacking targets in the waters off Taiwan.

The scale and intensity of China's drills -- as well as its withdrawal from key talks on climate and defense -- have triggered outrage in the United States and other democracies.

But Beijing on Monday defended its behavior as "firm, forceful and appropriate" to American provocation.

"(We) are only issuing a warning to the perpetrators," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing, promising China would "firmly smash the Taiwan authorities' illusion of gaining independence through the US".

"We urge the US to do some earnest reflection, and immediately correct its mistakes."

© Agence France-Presse