China says it carried out beach landing, assault drills in province opposite Taiwan
- Taiwan has complained of stepped-up military and political pressure, including massed air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone
- The drills had been carried out ‘in recent days’ in the southern part of Fujian province, says the official People’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper
The official People’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper, in a brief report on its Weibo microblogging account, said the drills had been carried out “in recent days” in the southern part of Fujian province.
The action had involved “shock” troops, sappers and boat specialists, the Chinese military newspaper added. The troops were “divided into multiple waves to grab the beach and perform combat tasks at different stages”, it added, without providing further details.
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It showed a video of soldiers in small boats storming a beach, throwing smoke grenades, breaking through barbed wire defences and digging trenches in the sand.
The drills appeared to involve a small number of troops.
The weather was clear and the seas were calm – suggesting the drill did not happen on Monday as southern Fujian is currently being affected by a tropical storm passing between Taiwan and the Philippines.
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