PLA drills near Taiwan necessary: Spokesperson

The People's Liberation Army's military drills are necessary actions taken to maintain national sovereignty in response to the current security situation across the Taiwan Straits, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday.

In response to PLA fighter jets approaching Taiwan's southwest airspace several times this month, Ma said the PLA's actions are aimed at external interference and separatist activities for "Taiwan independence" and do not target the broad masses of Taiwan compatriots.

"Some people feel threatened. It can only mean they are trying to colluding with external forces," he said, adding "Taiwan independence" is a dead end and will only harm the 23 million people in Taiwan.

Ma said Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory. At present, cross-Straits relations are becoming more complicated and severe and the culprits are the DPP authorities and "Taiwan independence" forces.

They seek help from foreign forces and are willing to be their puppet to deter China's development and provoke cross-Straits confrontation, seriously undermining the peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits, he added.

Ma also responded to recent trips made by US officials to Taiwan, as the US is sending its undersecretary of state Keith Krach to Taiwan for trade talks. This trip also comes after the visit last month paid by US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.

Ma said the Taiwan question is China's internal affair, and no external forces are allowed to interfere. He urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and three Sino-US joint communiques and stop any form of official exchanges with Taiwan.

"We firmly oppose any form of official exchanges between Taiwan and countries that have established diplomatic relations with China. This kind of behavior interferes with China's internal affairs, hurts the feeling of the Chinese people and violates the norms of international relations," he said.