A People's Liberation Army（PLA） soldier looks around with a telescope on August 5, 2022, as the Navy of the PLA Eastern Theater Command continues drills the waters around the island of Taiwan. Photo: Xinhua

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Wednesday announced it will conduct regular combat readiness security patrols in the Taiwan Straits after declaring a successful conclusion of recent drills around the island, which experts said indicates that the PLA is ready for combat whenever national sovereignty and territorial integrity is threatened. 

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson of the Eastern Theater Command, said in an announcement that the command had successfully completed various missions during recent drills around Taiwan island and effectively tested the troops' joint operation combat capabilities.
 
The Eastern Theater Command will closely observe the situation in the Taiwan Straits and regularly organize combat readiness security patrols in the Taiwan Straits in order to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Shi noted.

The aim of security patrols is to expel enemy planes and ships from Chinese territory. Combat readiness security patrol means that the PLA will conduct patrols with full combat readiness, for example, warplanes will be equipped with various missiles and the ships will be fully equipped with weapons and personnel, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.     

Regular combat readiness security patrols in the Taiwan Straits means that the PLA is ready for combat whenever the situation of the region is threatened, according to Song.  

The PLA conducted many exercises during the recent drills in the Taiwan Straits, but they would not be the last ones, as drills will continue until we solve the Taiwan question, Song noted. 

Immediately after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei on August 2, the PLA Eastern Theater Command announced a series of joint military operations around the island of Taiwan starting the same evening. 

On August 2 and 3, the PLA Eastern Theater Command conducted joint maritime and air exercises in sea and air space to the north, southwest and southeast of the island, with joint blockades, sea assault, land attack and air combat drills being at the core of the operation. J-20 stealth fighter jets and launchers of rockets and missiles were seen in media reports.

The PLA also surrounded Taiwan island with six exercise zones in drills starting August 4 and essentially locked the island down for several days, during which the PLA completed breakthroughs by making "many firsts," such as the first time for a PLA military drill to get this close to Taiwan island and the first time for a PLA military drill to fire conventional missiles passing over the island of Taiwan, especially traversing the air space under heavy deployment of Patriot air defense missile systems.

The series of drills formed a powerful deterrent against Taiwan secessionist forces and external interference. It serves not only as warnings to the US and "Taiwan independence" secessionists, but also as rehearsals for the PLA to reunify the island by force, experts said.

The drills also showed the international community the importance to uphold the one-China principle. The drills were a complete success, Song noted. 

Besides military drills, China has been actively reiterating its firm stance on Taiwan question and the crystal-clear fact that Taiwan is part of China to the international community amid the crisis in the Straits caused by Pelosi's reckless visit.    

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China on Wednesday published a white paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era." The white paper was released to reiterate the fact that Taiwan is part of China, to demonstrate the resolve of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people and their commitment to national reunification, and to emphasize the position and policies of the CPC and the Chinese government in the new era.