Two attack helicopters attached to an army aviation brigade under the PLA Eastern Theater Command fly in alongside formation above the sea at an ultra-low altitude during a flight training exercise on June 9, 2021. The flight training covered the subjects of two-plane formation flight, island defense penetration at low-altitude, maritime assault, etc.Photo:China Military

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) continued intensive cross-sea exercises featuring sea, land and air forces amid the recent moves by Taiwan's secessionists to collude with external forces.

An army aviation brigade affiliated with the PLA 74rd Group Army recently deployed Z-9 reconnaissance helicopters and Z-10 attack helicopters and held surface diurnal and nocturnal live-fire exercises off the coastline of South China's Fujian Province. Helicopter crews practiced low-altitude defense penetration, independent attack route planning and precision strikes on maritime, insular and aerial targets, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Saturday.

Unlike previous exercises, in the latest drill the helicopters were equipped with multiple types of ammunition to attack different kinds of targets.

In another recent drill, a brigade affiliated with the PLA Navy Marine Corps coordinated with civilian ships and conducted a long-distance cross-sea maneuvering exercise at an undisclosed location, js7tv.cn, a news website affiliated with the PLA, reported on Thursday.

Large groups of different types of amphibious armored vehicles and military trucks were loaded onto civilian ships as part of the transport mission, CCTV reported.

On the same note, a brigade affiliated with the PLA 72nd Group Army recently conducted an equipment loading and unloading exercise with civilian ships involving multiple types of military vehicles, according to CCTV report on Saturday.

A combined arms brigade affiliated with the PLA 71st Group Army recently sent its troops to the Yellow Sea and organized a full-scale exercise on gathering of heavy equipment on land, cross-sea maneuvering, logistics support, beach assault and multidimensional joint attack, js7tv.cn reported on Saturday.

On Thursday, during one of the PLA's routine aerial exercises near the island of Taiwan, a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft entered Taiwan's self-proclaimed air defense identification zone, the island's defense authorities said on the day.

The PLA's exercises came after the Taiwan secessionists' repeated moves to collude with external forces over the past week, including the announcement on Tuesday of the establishment of a representative office in Lithuania and allowing a civilian variant of military aircraft from the US to land on the island on July 19.

Xu Guangyu, a senior adviser to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told the Global Times that the US is recently increasing its provocative moves on the Taiwan question, supporting the Taiwan secessionists and stepping on the red line of the Chinese mainland and the PLA's recent exercises show that the Chinese mainland will not let Taiwan secessionists and the US do as they please.

After the US Air Force landed a C-146A aircraft on the island of Taiwan on July 15, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense warned in a statement that any trespass of foreign ships or planes into China's airspace or territorial waters will result in serious consequences.

A number of PLA exercises have taken place over the past two weeks with some overseas media linking them to the regional situation in the Taiwan Straits.