Chinese
President Xi Jinping ordered the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to
prepare for battle on Friday, as Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen called
for international support to defend the island’s democracy amid renewed
threats of unification from the mainland.
Xi’s comments were made during a meeting with top officials from the Central Military Commission (CMC).
“All
military units must correctly understand major national security and
development trends, and strengthen their sense of unexpected hardship,
crisis and battle,” he said, according to the South China Morning Post.