On the afternoon of Sept. 4, China's Ministry of National Defense spokesperson
Colonel Jiang Bin said recent Taiwanese defense reports exaggerate a "mainland
threat" and serve as an excuse for the Democratic Progressive Party to stoke war
anxiety. He reiterated that the PLA routinely conducts ships-and-aircraft
combat-readiness patrols around Taiwan to carry out anti-secession and
anti-interference operations to safeguard China's sovereignty and territory
integrity, and warned any attempt to pursue independence by force would fail.
