Xi Tells Chinese Military to Strengthen Training for ‘Actual Combat’

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected Tuesday the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy, and called for the Chinese military to strengthen military training for “actual combat.”

This comes as China conducted military drills simulating an invasion of Taiwan after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States last week, where she held talks with a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

China’s President Xi Jinping called on the country’s armed forces to “strengthen military training oriented towards actual combat”, state media Xinhua reported on Wednesday after Beijing conducted military drills intended to intimidate Taiwan.

Beijing is also irked by the agreement of the United States and the Philippines to have U.S. forces stationed in Philippine military bases in strategic parts of the country.

This includes one near Taiwan.

The U.S. and the Philippines have also commenced the “biggest ever” combat exercises in the West Philippine Sea and the Taiwan Strait in a bid to show the combined firepower of the US and the Philippines.

“This year’s Balikatan will be the biggest ever, an indication of the growth of our alliance and how it continues to evolve to meet our shared goals,” U.S. Chargé d’affaires Heather Variava said, representing U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Marykay Loss Carlson.

The military exercise, called “Balikatan,” the Tagalog term for shoulder-to-shoulder, will occur until 28 April with over more than 17,500 military personnel participating.

Among the exercises will be live-fire drills, and a ship-sinking assault drill using missiles, where the U.S will use their high mobility artillery rocket system or HIMARs, which gained popularity for its effectivity against the Russian military in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the Philippines will utilize every weapon system they have. (GFB)