Xi Jinping asks troops to be combat-ready, flexes military muscle against Taiwan

Chinese leader Xi Jinping renewed Beijing's territorial assertiveness andcalled upon the country's military to enhance its combat readiness to ensure victory in actual combat, Xinhua news agency reported. Xi made the call while addressing the troops of Eastern Theater Command responsible for securing thedisputed international boundaries in eastern China, including the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

"We must persist in thinking and handling military issues from a political perspective, dare to fight, be good at fighting, and resolutely defend our national sovereignty, security, and development interests," Xi told the Eastern Theatre Command.

Beijing renewed itsaggression against Taiwan in 2019 when itcrossed the median line—a maritime boundary that demarcates Taiwan from mainland China—for the first time in 20 years.

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Earlier this year, soon after cementing his control over the Communist Party of China for an unprecedented third term, Xihadcalled on Chinese forces to enhance theirability to safeguard national security and turn its military into a "Great Wall of Steel".

In April, Xi inspected the Southern Theater Command, whose sphere of responsibility includes the South China Sea, whose status remains disputed.

Xi hadsimilarly stressed the need to deepen military training and preparation.

China's 'unification' goal

China released a white paper in August 2022, just days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

It sought to realise "China's complete reunification" as a "historic mission" of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

But conventional military means are not in the Chinese books of strategy.

Also watch |World leaders lining up to meet Xi Jinping

The Science of Military Strategy,the guiding text for the Chinese military,aims at creating a new normal in its favour by repeatedly indulging in incursion-based armed movements— just like what it does alongside the Line of Actual Control with India.

"The only difference is that in the case of India, they useborder defence units and in the South China Sea, they use maritime militia,"Suyash Desai, Taiwan-based research scholaron China's military and foreign policy, told WION in December 2022.

"But the People's Republic of Chinauses the People's Liberation Armywith Taiwan, which makes the dispute much more escalatory," Desai had added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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