China Ends Military Drills Around Taiwan, Taipei Labels Them as ‘Provocative’ to Int’l Order

An outdoor screen shows news coverage of China’s military drills around Taiwan, in Beijing on May 23, 2024. Photo: Jade Gao/AFP.
An outdoor screen shows news coverage of China’s military drills around Taiwan, in Beijing on May 23, 2024. Photo: Jade Gao/AFP.
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China Ends Military Drills Around Taiwan, Taipei Labels Them as ‘Provocative’ to Int’l Order

An outdoor screen shows news coverage of China’s military drills around Taiwan, in Beijing on May 23, 2024. Photo: Jade Gao/AFP.
An outdoor screen shows news coverage of China’s military drills around Taiwan, in Beijing on May 23, 2024. Photo: Jade Gao/AFP.

China has ended the large-scale military drills it kicked off on Thursday morning around Taiwan and which were accompanied by a tightening of Beijing's tone towards Taipei.
The Chinese army has “successfully completed” the “Joint Sword-2024A” drills directed against Taiwan, a presenter for CCTV-7, China's state-run military news channel, said in a broadcast late Friday.
Punishing Separatists
China said the drills would serve as “strong punishment for the separatist acts of 'Taiwan independence' forces,” according to AFP.
The drills were launched three days after Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te took office. Beijing regards Lai as a “dangerous separatist.”
On Friday, Beijing's defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said that Lai was pushing Taiwan “into a perilous situation of war and danger.”
China called the drills a test of its ability to seize the self-ruled island.
The exercises took place all around the main island, and for the first time also targeted the Taipei-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin which lie close to the Chinese coast, according to maps released by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).
On Friday evening, China's army published images of the drills' highlights, featuring missile-launching trucks ready to fire, fighter jets taking off and naval officers looking through binoculars at Taiwanese ships.
Blatant Provocation
China's two-day military drills around Taiwan were a “blatant provocation to the international order,” Taipei said in a statement Saturday after the war games encircling the self-ruled island ended.
In a statement, Lai's presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo reiterated that ensuring peace and stability across the region was “related to the common interests of the international community.”
“However, China's recent unilateral provocation not only undermines the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait but it is also a blatant provocation to the international order, triggering serious concern and condemnation from the international community,” she said.
Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949, when nationalists fled to the island following their defeat by the Chinese Communist Party in a civil war on the mainland.
Beijing considers the democratic island part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.
It has also amped up its rhetoric, with its foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin saying “Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great... trend of China achieving complete unification.”
Chinese Threats
On Monday, Taiwan's President said in his inauguration speech that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were “not subordinate to each other,” which China viewed as a declaration the two are separate countries.
Beijing's defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said Friday that Lai was pushing Taiwan “into a perilous situation of war and danger.”
“Every time 'Taiwan independence' provokes us, we will push our countermeasures one step further, until the complete reunification of the motherland is achieved,” he said.
Political analyst Wen-Ti Sung from The Atlantic Council's Global China Hub told AFP that “Beijing is trying to use this very high-profile show of force to not only show displeasure against Taiwan, but also... to deter and dissuade other countries and partners from contemplating further cooperation or engagement of Taiwan.”
“That furthers isolation of Taiwan, which allows Beijing to negotiate with Taiwan going forward from a position of strength,” he added.
Calls for Self-Restraint
The United States, Taiwan’s strongest ally and military backer, on Thursday “strongly” urged China to act with restraint. The United Nations called for all sides to avoid escalation.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would meet his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun at the end of the month at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of defense officials from around the world.
It will be the first meeting between the two defense leaders following a phone call in April.

 



Railway Collision in Eastern India Kills 15

Onlookers watch as rescuers work after a cargo train rammed into Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train, near New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal state, India, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)
Onlookers watch as rescuers work after a cargo train rammed into Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train, near New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal state, India, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)
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Railway Collision in Eastern India Kills 15

Onlookers watch as rescuers work after a cargo train rammed into Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train, near New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal state, India, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)
Onlookers watch as rescuers work after a cargo train rammed into Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train, near New Jalpaiguri station, West Bengal state, India, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)

A freight train smashed into the rear of a stationary passenger train in India's West Bengal state on Monday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, police said, in an accident that railway authorities blamed on a disregarded signal.

Media showed images of the pile-up, with containers from the goods train strewn nearby, and one carriage left nearly vertical after the accident, which comes just over a year after a signaling error caused one of India's worst rail crashes.

At least 15 bodies have been pulled from the mangled carriages, Abhishek Roy, a senior police official in the eastern state's district of Darjeeling, the site of the accident, told Reuters.
Nearly 30 people were injured and rescue teams from the police and national disaster response force were working with doctors and residents of the area to clear debris from the derailed carriages, Roy added.

The goods train hit the Kanchanjunga Express travelling to Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, from the northeastern state of Tripura, driving three carriages of the passenger train off the rails.
It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board at the time.

Rescuers used iron rods and ropes to work free one carriage of the passenger train that had been swept upwards to lodge on the roof of the freight train by the impact of the collision.

The dead included the driver of the freight train and a guard on the passenger train, Jaya Varma Sinha, the head of the railway board that runs the countrywide network, told reporters.

The accident happened after the driver of the freight train disregarded a signal and hit the rear end of the express train, Sinha added.

Rescue work has been completed, Sinha said, while authorities were working to restore traffic, although the damage had been less extensive than initially feared.

"The guard's compartment in the passenger train was badly damaged," he added. "There were two parcel vans attached ahead of it which reduced the extent of damage to passengers."

Nearby residents heard a loud crash and saw the pile-up upon going to investigate, several told the ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences on the loss of life in the accident and said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was on his way to the site.