THE People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fired several ballistic missiles into waters to the east of Taiwan on Thursday afternoon, with all of them hitting targets accurately, according to a military spokesman.

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said that rocket forces in multiple locations on the mainland launched several types of missiles carrying conventional warheads to designated waters off the eastern coast of Taiwan.

The drills tested the rocket forces’ capabilities to conduct precision attacks and area-denial tasks, he noted, adding that the missile test operations had concluded and related airspace and waters had been reopened to civilian use.

The Eastern Theater Command of the PLA on Wednesday organized joint combat training exercises in the northern, southwestern and southeastern waters and airspace off the Taiwan Island.

The exercises involved troops from the Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force and Logistic Support Force under the Eastern Theater Command.

The exercises focused on key training sessions including joint blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control operation, and the joint combat capabilities of the troops got tested in the military operations.

This is the first time the PLA launched live long-range artillery across the Taiwan Strait, in a move that demonstrated the PLA’s strong capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the Naval Research Academy of the PLA, told the Global Times.

(China Daily, Xinhua, Global Times)