China Says it Conducted Military Exercise around Taiwan to Warn US

Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)
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China Says it Conducted Military Exercise around Taiwan to Warn US

Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)

China's military said on Wednesday it recently conducted an exercise around Taiwan as a "solemn warning" against its "collusion" with the United States, Chinese state media reported.

US President Joe Biden angered China on Monday by appearing to signal a change in a US policy of "strategic ambiguity" on Taiwan by saying the United States would get involved militarily if China were to attack the island.

But he said on Tuesday there was no change to US policy.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said it had recently carried out a patrol and drill in the airspace and sea around Taiwan.

"This is a solemn warning against recent collusion between the United States and Taiwan," said spokesman for the command, Shi Yi said, according to state television.

"It is hypocritical and futile for the United States to say one thing and do another on the Taiwan issue," he said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically ruled Taiwan under its control, and the Taiwan Strait remains a potential military flashpoint.

While the United States abides by a "one China" policy, recognizing only Beijing, it has made a commitment under its Taiwan Relations Act "to help provide Taiwan the means to defend itself".

Despite that, it has long held a policy of not specifying how it might react in the event of a Chinese attack on the island.



Finland Hails Plan for Allies to Join NATO Land Forces on its Soil

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
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Finland Hails Plan for Allies to Join NATO Land Forces on its Soil

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen hailed plans on Wednesday for six NATO member states including Britain and France to participate in land forces that are to be established in northern Finland. Finland, which has a longer border with Russia than any other NATO state, has strengthened the frontier in the two years since it joined the military alliance following a policy U-turn after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Reuters reported.

"I am very pleased that yesterday, in connection with the ministerial meeting, we were able to announce that Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Denmark and Iceland are set to join FLF Finland," Hakkanen said on X, referring to what NATO calls Forward Land Forces.

NATO leaders were meeting on Wednesday in The Hague.

Helsinki and Stockholm agreed last year that Sweden would lead the establishment of a NATO land force in Finland and invited other allies to participate.

The number of troops is yet to be defined. But the Finnish defense ministry has said that there is a plan for up to a brigade - about 5,000 soldiers - and a significant number of equipment to be brought in if the security situation worsens.

The first NATO land forces will start to arrive this year and be placed above the Arctic circle in Rovaniemi and Sodankyla, it said.

In addition to the foreign reinforcement force in the north, Finland will host a new NATO land force headquarters for officers in Mikkeli, southern Finland, an about two-hour drive from the Finnish-Russian border.