Alwaght- Chinese bombers and spy planes have flown around Taiwan in an apparent warning to the US which backs breakaway Chinese province of Taiwan.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday an air unit of the People’s Liberation Army ground forces held a live-fire exercise on Wednesday off China’s southeast coast. The PLA said the exercise involved the coordination of various types of armed helicopters that detected targets on the water and attacked them.
The exercise ended at around 11 p.m. with the landing of the last helicopter, Xinhua said.
It was unclear if the exercises referred to earlier drills announced by China that were to take place in the Taiwan Strait. State broadcaster China Central Television reported Wednesday that the Taiwan Strait exercises targeted advocates of formal independence for Taiwan, saying in a headline on its website, “Don’t say you haven’t been warned!”
China has also been angered by Washington's arms sales to Taipei, and China protested last month after President Donald Trump signed a bill allowing top-level US officials to travel to Taiwan.
The US switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 but maintains trade relations with the island.
China insistis that adherence to one-China policy is the prerequisite for Taiwan to participate in international activities.
The "One China principle" is the principle that insists both the Taiwan area and mainland China are inalienable parts of a single "China".
