Category: Uncategorized

China has announced it will hold military drills around Taiwan simulating the seizure and blockade of the island’s key areas, as a warning against “separatist forces”.

The army, navy, air force and rocket force would be dispatched for the drills scheduled for Tuesday, which include live-fire exercises, the Chinese military said.

Codenamed “Justice Mission 2025”, the drills come days after the US announced the sale of one of its largest weapons packages to Taiwan worth $11bn (£8.2bn). That move drew sharp protest from Beijing which in turn sanctioned US defence firms.

Taiwan’s push to ramp up its defence this year has also angered Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory.

Taiwan’s presidential office has criticised the upcoming Chinese drills, calling them a challenge to international norms.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said that they detected Chinese aircraft and ships around Taiwan on Monday morning, and have deployed their own forces and missile systems to monitor the situation. Its forces are on “high alert” to defend Taiwan and “protect our people”, the ministry said.

In a post on Weibo, the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command – in charge of the Taiwan Strait – described the upcoming military exercise as a “shield of justice”.

“All those plotting independence will be annihilated upon encountering the shield!” the post read.

While China has long called for the “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, it also has a law stating it will resort to “non-peaceful means” to prevent the island’s “secession”.

Beijing has accused Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te of pursuing “Taiwan independence”. The president maintains Taiwan is already a sovereign nation and therefore has no need to formally declare independence.

Since 2022 Beijing has ramped up military drills in the Taiwan Strait, usually in response to what it deems as threats such as former US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022 and Lai’s inauguration in 2024.

China’s last live-fire exercise in the Taiwan Strait, held in April, simulated strikes on key ports and energy facilities, the People’s Liberation Army said at the time. Along with the drills, the Chinese military released a series of cartoons depicting Lai as a “parasite”.

This week’s military drills are the first to be held under Yang Zhibin, the new chief of the Eastern Theater Command who assumed his role in October.

Taiwan holds military exercises of its own, both to prepare its population for an attack and showcase its defences to Beijing. This year’s Han Kuang exercise, which took place over 10 days, was the largest and longest one yet.

Since taking office, Lai has vowed to boost defence spending and enhance the island’s defence capabilities in the face of increasing tensions with Beijing.

In October, the Taiwanese president announced the building of a dome-like air defence system to guard against “hostile threats” – though he did not explicitly mention China.

The drills this week in the Taiwan Strait would also aim at deterrence “outside the island chain”, China’s military said.

China’s ties with Japan have plunged to their iciest in years after Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi suggested last month – in response to a question asked in parliament – that Japan’s self-defence forces could step in if China attacked Taiwan.

China has lodged heated protests and issued warnings to its citizens to avoid travel to Japan. Earlier this month, Japan protested after Chinese fighter jets locked radars on Japanese aircraft while Beijing accused Tokyo of “harassing” its forces during a training exercise.

Annette Dionne, the last surviving sister of the Canadian quintuplets, has died at 91, the Dionne Quints Home Museum has announced.

The five identical sisters, born in Ontario at the height of the Great Depression in 1934, were the first known quintuplets to survive past infancy.

They quickly became a global sensation during their childhood – starring in feature films, appearing on the covers of magazines, and endorsing products from toothpaste to syrup.

“Much beloved, Annette had championed children’s rights,” the museum said in a statement announcing her death.

The museum, which seeks to preserve their legacy and educate the public on the quintuplets’ controversial upbringing, added: “She believed it was important to maintain the Dionne Quints Museum and the history it provides for the future of all children.”

The quintuplets – Annette, Yvonne, Cécile, Émilie and Marie – were taken away from their parents by the Ontario government when they were infants.

For several years, the authorities displayed the children in a compound dubbed “Quintland”, which became a popular tourist attraction.

The children were constantly examined and observed, and had limited contact with their parents and siblings.

Their parents later regained custody of the quintuplets.

As adults Annette, Cécile and Yvonne sued the Ontario government for compensation over the circumstances of their childhood, and they received a settlement totalling nearly C$3m (£1.6m; $2.2m) in 1998.

Annette was the last surviving sibling out of the 14 Dionne children, the Dionne Quints Home Museum said.

Prior to Annette and Cécile’s deaths this year, Émilie died in 1954, Marie died in 1970 and Yvonne died in 2001.