Chinese military practiced Taiwan invasion manoeuvres in 2023, says US general

Chinese military drills in the straits of Taiwan in 2023 practiced manoeuvres key to an invasion of the island, although an actual attack was not imminent or inevitable, a senior US general in the region said on Thursday.
Deputy Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka, said in a speech in Canberra, in the exercises, the People’s Liberation Army simulated a maritime and air blockade of Taiwan, amphibious assaults and counter-intervention operations.
Sklenka’s comments come as Taiwan’s military mobilised its forces on Thursday after China started two days of “punishment” drills around Taiwan in what it said was a response to “separatist acts”.
The latest Chinese military drills come just three days after Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan’s new president, a man Beijing detests as a “separatist”. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory. Taiwan’s government says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
China’s military exercises are part of a sustained pressure campaign against Taiwan stretching back to 2022, said Sklenka, adding that once rare incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone have now become normal.