PLA conducts amphibious landing drill in strait as Taiwanese leader marks first year

The 73rd Group Army exercises tactics and skills of near-shore driving and landing operations with armoured amphibious vehicles

Mainland Chinese forces held an amphibious landing drill in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, as Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te celebrated his first year in office.

The People’s Liberation Army 73rd Group Army exercised tactics and skills of near-shore driving and landing operations with armoured amphibious vehicles on a beach on the southeast coast of Fujian province, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

“We are prepared for war at any second,” a soldier named Qian Bo was quoted as saying.

Another soldier, Bo Shaopu, said: “Our training has become more practical … We believe that when the day comes, we will have no problem immediately responding, fighting, and winning.”

The 73rd Group Army, headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian province, garrisons less than 30km (about 18 miles) opposite Taiwan-controlled Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, on the western side of the strait and is regarded as the PLA’s most frontline troops against Taiwan.

The drill was conducted on the same day Lai made his one-year administrative speech, in which he pledged to strengthen the island’s defence and self-reliance to ensure security and stability against increasing cross-strait tension.

Chen Binhua, spokesman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Tuesday afternoon, after Lai’s speech, that recent comments by the Taiwanese leader suggested consistency with the Taiwan-independence position.

A PLA Type 05 amphibious assault vehicle takes part in the exercises on Tuesday. Photo: CCTV

On Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry reported a total of 15 sorties by PLA aircraft and eight PLA naval vessels, alongside one official mainland Chinese ship that was observed manoeuvring near the island on the previous day.

The numbers were mild compared to previous peaks, but all sorties detected between 6am Tuesday and 6am on Wednesday crossed the de facto median line, which is not common.

Beijing considers Taiwan a province of China and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve reunification. The United States, like most countries, does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. But Washington also opposes any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and supplies arms to the government in Taipei.

The PLA has stepped up its posture around Taiwan and frequently conducts exercises of various scales to brandish its military, especially when officials in Taipei or Washington make moves that are seen as provocative.

The last major exercises, held in March and April, came after Lai labelled Beijing as a “foreign hostile force” and tightened security measures.

In the drill held on Tuesday morning, the joint brigade troops steered Type 05 amphibious assault vehicles directly as well as evasively around sets of barriers for about 1.5km before landing on the beach, the CCTV report said.

The amphibious vehicles, with a maximum speed of 40km/h (25mph) on the sea while carrying heavy armament, were designed for landing operations and have been deployed to units like the 73rd Group Army as “spearheads” against Taiwan.