PLA tests evacuation skills with helicopters and drones. Is China preparing for Taiwan war?

Taiwan's defence ministry confirmed on Wednesday (July 12) that the Chinese air force and navy staged a second day of large-scale exercises with fighter jets, bombers, and warships near the island nation's south and southwest.

Chinese national television broadcaster CCTV reported that the military tested helicopters and drones in the rescue of wounded soldiers from islands in a first-of-its-kind drill. The drill was carried out by the command responsible for overseeing the Taiwan Strait.

It's not certain when the exercises took place.CCTV's military channel reported on Monday that the exercises were conducted by the People's Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command on an unidentified island off the east coast of Zhejiang province.

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The CCTV report said that the test was focused on speeding up the evacuation of wounded soldiers from "medium- to long-distance islands" in both peace and wartime. The exercise used helicopters, which were coordinated by land and air forces.

Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and even claimed that, in case needed, it will use force to unite the two territories. It also claims that Taiwan will defy China's one-nation policy by pushing for formal independence.

In case China invades Taiwan, experts have said that it would put a massive impact on the global supply chains as the island is a major supplier of semiconductors—a key component of nearly all modern electronics.

An act of invasion will also lead to a Western fury, inciting China's isolation and pushing Beijing and Washington closer than ever to a direct military conflict. It put will also put an end to Taiwan's hard-won democratic liberties.

In a report published by South China Morning Post, some military analysts said that the exercise addressed a PLA vulnerability – evacuation skills.

China's focus on 'golden rescue time'

The aim of such focused exercises was to prepare for possible military conflicts near coastal islands and in the Taiwan Strait.A video caption shown in the report read: "Due to geographical restrictions, medical evacuation of officers and soldiers is carried out over long distances and difficult."

The video showed that the drones were utilised for reconnaissance and pinpointing the positions of the simulated wounded soldiers in the practice and the wounded were seen in the footage being transported by a helicopter and transferred to a command hospital.

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The report quoted Su Xingliang, who is the director of the brigade's support department, as saying: "In this medical and logistics exercise, we introduced air mobility forces for the first time, which greatly shortened the evacuation and treatment time for the wounded."

According to Su, the exercise improved the medical treatment abilities of the coastal forces and future drills would involve working with local medical forces to ensure that every wounded person could be treated within the "golden rescue time".

(With inputs from agencies)

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