The Chinese military claims to have conducted another round of military drills near Taiwan, this time focusing on land and sea attacks.
In a statement late on Sunday, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command claimed its troops had organized "joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat" exercises in the sea and the airspace surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.
Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a command spokesperson, said the drills were meant to evaluate unified combat capabilities and "resolutely" confront the provocative activities of foreign forces and Taiwan independence separatist elements amid the China-Taiwan conflict, Al Jazeera reported.
Taiwan's presidential office called China's charges "groundless" and strongly denounced the exercises, stressing that Taiwan and China share responsibility for maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The office said Taiwan will do everything it can to protect its sovereignty and security instead of making things worse.
Taiwan's defense ministry tweeted on Monday that it has identified 57 Chinese military planes and four naval ships surrounding the island in the last 24 hours.
It stated that around 28 of the jets entered the ADIZ, an unofficial border separating the two sides in the Taiwan Strait, off the southwest coast of Taiwan.
According to the ministry map, two H-6 bombers equipped with nuclear weapons were flying south of Taiwan.
After the US enacted a defense budget package that supported Taipei in the China-Taiwan conflict, 43 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line in similar drills late last month, according to Taipei.
War Simulation Predicts China's Defeat Against US-Taiwan Forces
A renowned independent Washington think tank performed wargame simulations of a future confrontation that preoccupied military and political officials in Asia and Washington.
The simulation showed that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2026 would result in thousands of casualties among Chinese, US, Taiwanese, and Japanese troops, and Beijing would likely lose.
In a conflict over Taiwan, the US military's chances of coming out on top may be as slim as those of the Chinese troops it beat. China's modern fleet, the world's biggest, would be in "shambles," and at least two US aircraft carriers would sink in the Pacific.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) ran one of the most thorough wargame simulations ever on a hypothetical fight over Taiwan, as per a CNN report.
The use of armed force to annex Taiwan has not been ruled out by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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According to the study, the US and Japan lost dozens of ships, hundreds of planes, and thousands of military people. Such losses would harm the US's standing in the world for several years.
The US Navy typically lost two aircraft carriers and 10 to 20 significant surface combatants. A little more than 3,200 US soldiers would perish in three weeks of fighting, which is less than half of what the US lost in two decades of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
China has significant losses as well in the simulation. Its navy, amphibious forces, and tens of thousands of troops are prisoners of war, it asserted.
According to the assessment, China would lose 138 large ships, 155 combat planes, and around 10,000 soldiers.
US, Allies in Asia Prepare for Possible China-Taiwan War
The senior Marine Corps general in Japan said the US and Japanese armed forces are fast integrating their command structure and ramping up military cooperation as Washington and its Asian allies brace for a potential clash with China over Taiwan.
The Financial Times reports that Lieutenant General James Bierman, commanding general of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) and Marine Forces Japan, said the two forces had seen exponential growth over the past year in operations in the region they would have to defend in a battle.
According to Bierman, the US and Asian allies are laying the basis for future contingencies like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan by modeling it after the foundation that allowed western nations to assist Ukraine's battle against Russia.
