AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,407 No Change 0 (0%)
BR30 31,713 No Change 0 (0%)
KSE100 97,328 No Change 0 (0%)
KSE30 30,192 No Change 0 (0%)

China held live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday but Taipei dismissed the exercises as "routine" after expected large-scale naval manoeuvres failed to materialise. Beijing had announced the drills last week, further ramping up tensions following stark warnings against any independence moves by the self-ruled island which China sees as its sovereign territory.
Vessels had been told to avoid a certain area off the Chinese mainland's coast, triggering speculation that a flotilla spearheaded by China's sole aircraft carrier would take part in the exercise. But Taiwan's defence ministry said Wednesday that the drills only involved land-based artillery conducting "routine" shooting practice.
Beijing has yet to release any information about the drill, which Chinese authorities had said would run until midnight, without giving any details about which military equipment or personnel would be involved. "China deliberately released fake information to exaggerate it, to make it sound huge when in fact it's small," Taiwanese defence ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi told AFP.
"It's the cheapest way of verbal intimidation and sabre-rattling," Chen said, adding that such exercises had been held every year since 2007, except for last year.
The drills coincided with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's visit to Swaziland, one of Taipei's few remaining international allies. China's Taiwan Affairs Office director Liu Jieyi had said Monday that the drill was "an action to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our motherland".
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated since Tsai came to office in May 2016, largely because she has not embraced the position that Taiwan and China are one country.
China sees the democratically-governed island as a renegade part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out reunification by force. Beijing has also been angered by Washington's arms sales to Taipei. China protested last month after President Donald Trump signed a bill allowing top-level US officials to travel to Taiwan.
Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 but maintains trade relations with the island and is its main weapons supplier. Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is traditionally pro-independence and her newly-appointed premier William Lai is a long-standing independence advocate. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned in a speech on March 20 that "all acts and tricks to separate the country are doomed to fail".
That same day, China's sole operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, sailed through the Taiwan Strait. "The mainland must create military pressure to let the other side know that no matter whether it happens gradually or they really declare independence, it is totally unacceptable," Song Zhongping, military commentator for Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, told AFP.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018

Comments

Comments are closed.