The People’s Liberation Army has fired rockets at waters near Taiwan during the second day of large-scale drills around Taiwan, as Beijing threatened to block cargo ships carrying US-made weapons to the island.
According to statements and videos released by the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command, live-fire drills were conducted north, south and east of the island, highlighting the PLA’s capacity to seize or impose a blockade on the island using various tactics.
The videos showed troops preparing for the exercise before sunrise, including sending out a drone that was apparently used to film rockets exploding in the target area in waters north of the island.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a press briefing on Monday afternoon that the exercise area delineated by the PLA encompassed Taiwan’s 12-nautical-mile zone.
On Tuesday afternoon, the ministry said shells fired by the PLA were “scattered around Taiwan’s 24-nautical-mile line”.
The ministry said that from 6am to 3pm on Tuesday, Taiwanese forces detected 71 PLA aircraft sorties, 13 PLA vessels, 15 Chinese coastguard ships and four ships within an amphibious formation operating in waters east of the island.
The Coast Guard Administration of Taiwan said the PLA was firing live rockets from its PCL-191 system, one of the PLA’s most advanced, truck-mounted multiple launch rocket systems. From mainland China it could fire rockets across most of Taiwan’s main island.