China says military drills near Taiwan were a ‘necessary action’

Chinese military drills off Taiwan’s southwest coast last week were a “necessary action” to protect China’s sovereignty, Beijing said on Wednesday, after Taiwan complained the large-scale air and naval exercises were a serious provocation.

Offering China’s first public explanation for the exercises, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan was a “sacred” and inseparable part of China.

“The relevant combat training activities by the People’s Liberation Army were a necessary action aimed at the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty,” Ma told a news conference.

 Ma said the drills were also aimed at “the interference of foreign forces” and Taiwan independence activities, not Taiwan’s people.

Taiwan’s government was allowing anti-China, Western forces to “play the Taiwan card” and become a pawn in stopping China’s development, stirring up enmity between the two sides of the strait and seeking Taiwan’s independence, Ma said.

“They continue to provoke and are threat-makers and troublemakers,” he said.