China's large-scale military drills in areas around Taiwan: what's known so far

The exercises, codenamed Joint Sword 2024A, will be conducted from May 23 to 24, and involve military services including the army, navy, air force, and rocket force, the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced.

Specifically, the drills are being conducted in the Taiwan Strait, north, south, and east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin, as per the command’s statement.

The exercises serve as a "strong punishment" against the separatist acts of the "Taiwan independence" forces and a "stern warning" to interference and provocation by “external forces,” Li Xi, spokesperson for the theater command, said in a statement. The maneuvers will focus on practicing joint maritime and aerial combat readiness in areas around the island of Taiwan to test joint real combat capabilities, Li said.

The show of strength comes just days after US-backed Taiwan’s new regional leader, William Lai Ching-te, took his oath of office. In response to that, China's Taiwan Affairs Office chief Chen Binhua declared that Beijing “will adhere to the 1992 consensus, which embodies the One China principle, and firmly oppose separatist actions aimed at achieving Taiwan's independence, as well as interference by external forces."

The drills also come as the US has been further stoking tensions in the region with a swathe of joint drills. The expansive US-Philippines Balikatan war games in April were held near the South China Sea, where both Beijing and Manila have territorial claims, with Beijing slamming the drills as exacerbating regional tensions.

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▪️ Israel allegedly abandons major invasion of Rafah in favor of targeted raids

▪️ French President Macron arrives in New Caledonia amid civil unrest triggered by Paris-backed changes to local voting rights

▪️ WATCH: Farewell ceremonies for the late Iranian President Raisi continue in the city of Birjand

▪️ Will European countries’ decision to recognize Palestine influence the position of the US?

▪️ The danger of Srebrenica resolution explained ahead of upcoming vote on it at UNGA

▪️ Neocon Nikki Haley endorses Trump, referring to Biden as a 'catastrophe'

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❗️ General Vadim Shamarin, head of the main communications directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, has been arrested in a case of receiving a particularly large bribe, Sputnik was told in court. Shamarin faces up to 15 years in prison, the court said.

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Russian artillerymen support the army's offensive near Avdeyevka

Crews of 2S19 Msta-S SAUs fired 152 mm shells to suppress Ukrainian firing points and strongholds. Orlan-30 UAVs carried out fire correction and target engagement control.

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❗️LIVE: Funeral ceremony for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi takes place in Mashhad

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Interest in the adoption of a law noscriptd On Transparency of Foreign Influence in Georgia and the criticism of it are caused, in particular, by the fact that it has been demanded that Tbilisi to open a “second front” since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.

According to him, a “global war party” which has influence over various countries is involved. Kobakhidze did not specify which powers are meant by this term, noting that “in the end, coordination is carried out by one hand.” In his opinion, the EU and US need “deoligarchization.”

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🗣 'Butcher of Gaza': a crowd reminded Blinken again that people know and remember the terrible US-backed events in Gaza

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❗️ Other statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at his briefing:

▪️ No armaments pumped into Ukraine can change the course of the special operation, it continues, and the Russian Armed Forces know their business.

▪️ Moscow is interested in developing mutually beneficial relations with all African countries, including Chad, where a new president is taking office.

▪️ Contacts on the issue of prisoner exchange should be carried out in complete silence, this is the only way they will be effective.

▪️ Putin and the King of Bahrain will hold talks on Thursday, first in a small group, then with delegations in a formal breakfast format.

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"Russia does not expect relations with Britain to change after the country's snap general election." Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during the briefing that all political forces in the kingdom are Russophobic.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, changes in relations between the two countries are unlikely: "Now it is almost impossible to see in the political landscape of Great Britain any forces characterised by a sober approach."

"All political forces have plunged into the abyss of dormant Russophobia, a hostile attitude towards our country. That is why no election will change anything in relations with us," Peskov added.

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🇧🇭🇷🇺 Bahraini king’s visit to Russia - a signal to the US that the kingdom seeks ‘strategic autonomy’

The visit of the King of Bahrain to Russia is a “signal” to the US that the kingdom is a “strategic player” in its own right, Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, told Sputnik.

Al Khalifa arrived on an official two-day visit on Wednesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The visit of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to Russia and then China means the Middle East island kingdom – historically a US ally – seeks to exert a “level of strategic autonomy,” and does not want to be “taken for granted,” the academic said.

“I think what we're seeing is the emergence at the broader level of multiple poles in the globe with China, Russia, India on the one side and, of course, Iran. And on the other side, the United States, European Union, Germany, and Britain and other states,” he said.

The visit has even greater strategic significance, Kamrava noted, as it comes after Spain, Ireland, and Norway recognized Palestinian statehood, as well as in the wake of the arrest warrant that the International Criminal Court has issued for the leaders of Hamas, as well as for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister.

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🇧🇭🇷🇺 Sign language: Vladimir Putin helped Bahrain’s delegation deal with its translation device

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❗️ Russian armed forces liberated the village of Andreyevka in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Defense Ministry said.

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❗️ Bahrain turned to Russia – first of all countries – with a request to support a peace conference being held on the Middle East matter, the country's king said.

He added that Bahrain is in favor of normalizing relations with Iran.

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❗️The king of Bahrain stated that his country was the first of all to reach out to Russia for support in hosting a Middle East peace conference.

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❗️ The Arab world has shown solidarity for the first time by calling for an end to the war in the Gaza Strip during the Arab League summit, the Bahraini king noted.

Additionally, he highlighted the positive impact of Russia's booming economic growth on the situation in the Arab world.

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