PLA conducts drills around Taiwan

The Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army conducted joint exercises involving land, sea, air and rocket forces around the island of Taiwan on Tuesday, stressing that this is a "just and necessary action" to defend national sovereignty and maintain national unity.

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, an Eastern Theater Command spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday morning that the command has deployed its ground, naval, air, rocket and other forces from multiple directions to approach the island as part of the operation.

The drills mainly focus on sea-air combat readiness patrols, battlefield dominance, strikes on sea and ground targets, blockades of key areas and sea routes and other tactics, in order to assess the forces' joint operational capabilities, he said.