Soldiers assigned to a brigade of the army under the PLA Eastern Theater Command move forward for assault after disembarking from their amphibious infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) during a recent beach raid training exercise. The Army brigade has organized amphibious landing drills on subjects of landing craft ferrying, assault wave formation, beach-landing, obstacle breaking and so on. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zeng Bingyang)

The armed forces on the island of Taiwan practiced on Monday countermeasures for a bioweapons attack in the Han Kuang drill, which is an annual exercise targeting the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), with media on the island saying that since the US is speculating that COVID-19 originates from labs from the Chinese mainland, the island needs to be prepared for a potential biological weapons attack from the PLA.

This is pure slander aimed at defaming the Chinese mainland, which has never used biological weapons against anyone but was on the receiving end from Japanese and US biological attacks, Chinese mainland experts said, noting that it is a script even the US intelligence agencies dared not to make up, and Taiwan authorities' stunt to flatter the US only makes people want to laugh. 

It is countries like the US and Japan that have committed war crimes that are more likely to use weapons of mass destruction if they interfere in a possible conflict in the Taiwan Straits, they warned.

The 37th Han Kuang exercise kicked off on Monday, as the armed forces on the island of Taiwan practiced against biological weapons and an epidemic in Tainan, aiming to enhance the troops' countermeasures in a possible biological warfare, Taipei-based news website udn.com reported.

Japanese news outlet Nikkei Asia said in a Tuesday report that Taiwan's drill prepared for a full-scale invasion by the Chinese mainland, including a response to biological and chemical warfare.

These claims are only slander to defame the Chinese mainland and the PLA, mainland experts said.

China was on the receiving end of biological weapons from Japanese and US forces, and the Chinese military never used inhuman weapons against others, Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

During China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), the Japanese military built biological and chemical warfare research centers in China, including the notorious Unit 731, for human experiments. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), the US launched germ warfare in North Korea and Northeast China, resulting in significant damage on Chinese and North Korean troops and civilians.

There is no reason for the PLA to use biological or chemical weapons on the island of Taiwan even if the day comes for a reunification-by-force operation, because the PLA's conventional weapons are enough to neutralize all resistance on the island in a very short time, a Beijing-based expert on the Taiwan question told the Global Times on Tuesday, requesting anonymity.

Another key reason is that Taiwan is China's territory, and the people on the island are Chinese people, the expert said. "The PLA would only attack Taiwan secessionists and foreign interference forces, so it is impossible for the PLA to use such things that brings huge side effects and are difficult to control as biological weapons."

At a time when the US is speculating that the COVID-19 originated from a Wuhan lab, the Han Kuang exercise's biodefense drill "is obviously indicating something," the udn.com said.

A similar drill on biological warfare and disease control was also held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, previous media reports show.

Some people on the island of Taiwan seek "independence," so they take every chance possible to collude with Western countries led by the US, and in this case, to hype the so-called COVID-19 lab-leak theory with the aim of containing the development of the Chinese mainland, Song said. 

"Their evil conspiracy is so obvious now, and if they insist on provocation, they are bound to have their heads bashed and battered," Song said.

If the island of Taiwan really wants to defend against a biological weapons attack, they should worry about countries like the US and Japan, which have bad records of using such weapons, observers said.

If a military conflict breaks out between the Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan and countries like the US and Japan militarily interfere, they could take any foul approach to defeat the PLA, Song said, recalling the US military's inhuman doings in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

Weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, usually cause collateral damage and long-lasting environmental hazards, observers said.

Taiwan's Han Kuang drills are merely political shows that deceive secessionists themselves and beg for support from Western countries, but have no military significance, the anonymous Taiwan question expert said.

A PLA Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft entered Taiwan's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone on Monday, the day the Han Kuang drill started, according to a press release the island's defense authorities published on the day.