Screengrab/Global Times' Twitter
- An animated video from the Chinese military shows how China's forces could attack Taiwan.
- The video showed a targeted, multi-prong assault on Taiwan executed by aircraft and navy vessels.
- China held drills around the island after Tsai Ing-wen met Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday.
The Chinese army posted a video on Sunday showing how a full-scale attack on Taiwan from China could be launched if war were to break out.
An animated video from the Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command's official WeChat account was re-posted to Twitter by the state-linked media outlet Global Times.
It showed the possible trajectory of missiles landing on Taiwan and its surrounding waters and mapped out how forces from the Chinese mainland, including military aircraft and navy vessels, could launch a coordinated attack.
—Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 9, 2023
While this might be viewed as propaganda and bluster in the wake of Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen's US visit, China did conduct drills simulating precision strikes on Taiwan over Easter.
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Monday that 70 Chinese aircraft and 11 Chinese navy vessels encircled the island on Monday morning.
The drills were part of a military exercise conducted by the People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, a statement on Saturday from the Chinese Ministry of Defense said.
The statement added that the drills are a "stern warning" that China will not tolerate "provocative activities of 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces and their collusion with external forces."
The drills kicked off after Tsai met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday. McCarthy said Tsai was a "great friend of America," and that "America's support for the people of Taiwan will remain resolute, unwavering and bipartisan," the Associated Press reported.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state separate from mainland China. But China considers Taiwan as part of its territory, a breakaway province with a democratic government that poses a threat to China's Communist Party.
The US abides by the One China policy, which does not formally support Taiwan's independence and acknowledges the existence of a sole Chinese government. However, the US is also an ally of Taiwan and has an unofficial diplomatic relationship with the island.
Representatives for Taiwan's Ministry of Defense, the Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command, and the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.