30/11/2019
- Zhuhai police, at the end of the world’s longest sea bridge, use body armour and tear gas in preparation for Macau’s 20th anniversary celebration
- Hong Kong is just an hour’s drive away from Macau using the bridge
More than 1,000 police officers took part in the anti-terror drill in Zhuhai. Photo: Toutiao
Armed police in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai held a massive anti-terror drill at its end of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on Friday morning as part of its preparations for the 20th anniversary of the handover of Macau, when President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the city.
More than 1,000 police officers and 80 vehicles were involved in the exercise, amid
, according to local news portal Southcn.com.
Photos circulated online showed officers in body armour, helmets and shields firing tear gas as they confronted a group of people carrying sticks and wearing black shirts and yellow helmets – attire associated with the protesters in Hong Kong, 60km (37 miles) away from Macau.
The drill was held three weeks before the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to Chinese administration under the “one country, two systems” policy on December 20.
Police trucks and riot officers during Friday’s exercise at the Zhuhai end of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Photo: Toutiao
Security is expected to be tightened when Xi visits the city, in response to the violent clashes in Hong Kong over the past six months, which Beijing has repeatedly blamed on radical protesters.
The former Portuguese colony is connected to Hong Kong and its neighbouring city of Zhuhai, Guangdong province, by the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. It takes about an hour to drive from Hong Kong to Macau via the bridge.
Guo Yonghang, Zhuhai party chief, urged the local police to stay loyal to the party. “[Police] should be loyal and fulfil duty and mission to create a peaceful and stable political and social environment for the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Macau’s reunification to the motherland,” he said.
Macau was returned to China two years after Hong Kong and celebrations of its success under one country, two systems could be overshadowed by its neighbour’s anti-government protests which stemmed from opposition to proposed extradition legislation and have escalated into violence on the streets and in university campuses.
In August, two months after more than 2 million people in Hong Kong took to the streets to protest the now-suspended extradition bill, police in Shenzhen held at least three drills featuring anti-riot exercises involving tear gas, armoured vehicles and water cannon.
Source: SCMP
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06/08/2019
- Security forces shown tackling ‘demonstrators’ wearing black shirts
- ‘Anti-mob’ tactics prepare forces for the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic
Shenzhen police broadcast live footage of a security exercise involving 12,000 officers rehearsing anti-riot drills. Photo: Weibo
More than 12,000 police officers assembled in Shenzhen in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Tuesday for a drill that included anti-riot measures similar to those seen on the streets of Hong Kong.
The drill was part of security preparations for the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, Shenzhen police said on the force’s Weibo newsfeed.
“A drill will be held to increase troop morale, practise and prepare for the security of celebrations, [and] maintain national political security and social stability,” police said.
China mobilises 190,000 police officers to prepare for 70th anniversary celebrations
In live videos of the police drills shown on the Yizhibo network, officers in body armour, helmets and shields confronted groups of people in black shirts and red or yellow construction safety helmets – similar to those worn by Hong Kong protesters – who were holding flags, banners, batons and wooden boards.
“The practice is complete with mature anti-mob tactics. The police forces can present an anti-mob formation, which is flexible, suitable for different situations, with accurate aim and effective control,” a narrator said during the live broadcast.
As the drill escalated and more “rioters” were deployed, police fired tear gas and smoke covered the training ground.
A few minutes later, the rioters fired home-made gas bombs then set bogies alight and drove them at the police lines. The officers changed formations and pressed the rioters, making arrests. Police handlers and their dogs were also on the scene.
A blazing bogie is driven towards police lines during Shenzhen police’s anti-riot exercise. Photo: Weibo
Other drills included anti-smuggling and search-and-rescue exercises involving personnel from the People’s Liberation Army.
The drill was presented as preparation for the 70th anniversary celebrations but it came amid continued violence in the streets of Hong Kong and two incidents of the Chinese national flag being thrown into Victoria Harbour.
Hong Kong has been engulfed in two months of turmoil stemming from opposition to the now-suspended extradition bill.
Police handlers and their dogs were deployed against people dressed like Hong Kong demonstrators. Photo: Weibo
“Is this hinting at Hong Kong?” a commenter on the Shenzhen police Weibo thread asked.
“We are doing drills today, and they can enter into real practice in Hong Kong in the future. We can send thousands of anti-mob squads over and strike hard at the radical traitors, those Hong Kong independence supporters,” another user said.
Since protests escalated in Hong Kong, Beijing has reiterated its “unflagging support” for embattled Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her administration to take lawful action to restore order, and warned that the city was entering “a most dangerous phase” with violence on the streets.
Source: SCMP
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30/07/2019
- Armed F-16 fighter jets simulate attack followed by medium and long-range missile launches into eastern waters
- People’s Liberation Army launched two large-scale drills close to Taiwan Strait on Sunday
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Taiwan has launched a military exercise including F-16 fighter jets in response to Beijing’s war games, which began on Sunday. Photo: AFP
Taiwan responded to Beijing’s military drill targeting the self-ruled island by deploying its most advanced fighter jets and firing 117 medium and long-range missiles on Monday and Tuesday.
Defence ministry spokesman Lee Chao-ming said the missiles were fired from the Jiupeng military base to waters off eastern Taiwan, with a range of 250km (155 miles), in an exercise covering five types of training for the island’s forces.
On Monday, Taiwan’s air force also dispatched two F-16 fighter jets armed with AGM-84 Harpoon missiles in a simulation of an attack off the island’s southeast coast.
Song Zhongping, a military commentator based in Hong Kong, said the Taiwan drill was aimed at the mainland Chinese exercise which began on Sunday. The location of the Taiwan drill meant its missiles’ electronic data could avoid detection by the People’s Liberation Army’s radar, he said.
Chinese military starts Taiwan Strait drills amid rising tension
“Taiwan is focusing on boosting self-defence, and building up a comprehensive air and sea defence network to counter military threats from the mainland,” Song said.
“The test firing of missiles is to boost the island’s self-defence capability. The military drill of the PLA has triggered a lot of concerns in Taiwan, and Taiwan is responding to it also through a strong military means.”
The PLA launched two large-scale military drills close to the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, after a notice issued by the Zhejiang Maritime Safety Administration prohibited ships from entering the waters off the coast of the eastern province between 6pm on Saturday and 6pm on Thursday.
The Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration said another set of military exercises would be held in the waters off Fujian province between Monday morning and Friday evening.
Observers said they expected PLA forces from the Southern and Eastern commands – whose area of responsibility includes Zhejiang and Fujian, which lie across the strait from Taiwan – to take part in the exercises.
Japan’s Ministry of Defence said on Monday that six Chinese warships had passed through the Miyako Strait – a waterway lying between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island – presumably in preparation for the drills.
Japanese military vessels said a Chinese class-three missile destroyer – a type 054A missile frigate – was sailing 240km north of Miyako Island on Saturday.
On Thursday, Japanese ships reported China’s type 052D destroyer Xining, type 054A missile frigate Daging, the guided missile frigate Rizhao, and the ocean comprehensive supply ship Hulun Lake, all entered the Pacific Ocean through the Miyako Strait.
This is China’s first war game to involve simultaneous exercises at two locations in waters near Taiwan since the 1995–96 Taiwan Strait Crisis, during which the PLA conducted a series of large-scale live-fire exercises in response to then-Taiwanese leader Lee Teng-hui’s visit to the United States, and ahead of the Taiwanese presidential election.
Source: SCMP
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