Taiwan's defence ministry said 37 Chinese aircraft were detected around the self-ruled island Wednesday as they headed to exercises with an aircraft carrier in the western Pacific.
China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and maintains a near-daily presence of fighter jets, drones and warships around the island, which is located 180 kilometres (110 miles) from the southern Chinese coast.
It is also a crucial part of a chain of islands that military strategists say serve as a gateway from the South China Sea -- which China claims in nearly its entirety -- to the Pacific Ocean.
At around 9:30 am (0130 GMT) Wednesday, Taipei said that "since 0520 today, the Ministry of National Defence detected a total of 37 Chinese aircraft" around Taiwan, including fighter jets, bombers and drones.
Thirty-six of the aircraft crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait -- which bisects the narrow waterway separating the island from China.
"(The aircraft) headed to the Western Pacific via our southern and southeastern airspace to cooperate with the aircraft carrier the Shandong in conducting 'joint sea and air training'," the defence ministry said in a statement.
Defence Minister Wellington Koo told reporters the Shandong "did not pass through the Bashi Channel", the area off Taiwan's southern tip where Chinese ships typically transit en route to the Pacific Ocean.
Instead, it "went further south through the Balingtang Channel towards the Western Pacific," he said, referring to a waterway just north of the Philippines' Babuyan Island -- about 250 kilometres south of Bashi.
The Chinese flights come a day after Japan's Joint Staff Office said four PLA navy vessels -- including the Shandong -- were sailing 520 kilometres southeast of Miyako Island.
"On the same day, the Chinese navy's Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier 'Shandong' was observed landing and departing fighter aircraft and helicopters on board," it said in a statement.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and has ramped up military and political pressures on the island in recent years.
In May, days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office, China launched war games around the island as "punishment" for an inauguration speech that Beijing called a "confession of Taiwan independence".
On Wednesday, Lai met with Raymond Greene, new director of the American Institute in Taiwan -- the de-facto US embassy, emphasising their "solid partnership... in the midst of China's repeated provocation and attempts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait".
While the United States, like many other countries, does not officially recognise Taiwan diplomatically, it is Taipei's key partner and major provider of weapons -- a point of consternation for Beijing which has repeatedly called on Washington to stop arming the island.
Greene said Wednesday that Washington would continue to "strongly support Taiwan's ability to defend itself".
"We have a long-term and shared interest to maintain the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. This is vital to the prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, as well as to global security," he said during his meeting with Lai.
burs-dhc/cwl
© 2024 AFP
14 Comments
isabelle
Another day, another needless provocation by the totalitarian menace that is China.
Sums China up perfectly: "punishing" someone for an election speech.
Sh1mon M4sada
LOL, brain damage continues...restoring territorial integrity by civil war with Taipei. Of course, if the CCP had left China's ruling army alone, it might have been able to fight the invading Japanese avoid separationnin the first place.
GuruMick
We will all be dead and gone when China reunites with Taiwan.
Long game player, absent in modern states.
deanzaZZR
Because Lai effectively called for Two Chinas or One China, One Taiwan. The PRC will never allow this to happen.
Once again from the Shanghai Communique, Taiwan's current yojimbo declared,
Care to state your nationality? I'm a USA citizen with a Japanese wife who has lived and worked in Taiwan, China and Japan. Why are you seemingly so invested in this issue?
isabelle
It's not for the PRC to decide; it's for the people of Taiwan to decide. And the people of Taiwan overwhelmingly reject rule by the CCP.
You don't "punish" someone simply for speaking to their electorate about the platform which that electorate just endorsed (unless you are a brutal dictatorship, like the PRC).
Or perhaps, to be on the safe side, Lai should've just held up a blank piece of paper instead? (Oh, wait... that's "bad" too.)
deanzaZZR
The Chinese nation includes 1.4 billion people, 24 million of those Chinese are on the island province of Taiwan.
Since no information was provided I'll assume you are in the PH 5 peso army.
stormcrow
China doesn't like Taiwan because Taiwan is more civilized than itself.
No wonder China isn't too happy about its citizens visiting Taiwan. The Taiwanese people know how to live and live well. That's why China wants to put an end to Taiwan, because they live better than the people in mainland China do.
Turn Taiwan and every other country in the Pacific region threatened by China into porcupines with extremely sharp quills.
ian
Just another day in China
Mr Kipling
Another pointless anti China propaganda story
The "line" crossed is an imaginary one not recognized by anyone but Taiwan puppets and their backers.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Once again, the entire world declared that nonsense statement in order to get access to the Chinese market only.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Sounds like an excellent reason not to murder 24 million people so you can beat your chest and wonder where all your trade went.
JJE
Military drills are a good thing remember and important for regional peace and future reunification.
Always keep in mind that Taiwan lacks UN recognition as an independent, sovereign state.
Less countries of earth even recognize them with official diplomatic relations than the breakaway regions Russia is accused of propping up.
China's position of reunification is fully consistent with international law. Not to mention the positions of certain quarters who advocate particular lands elsewhere should be reunited with force.
TaiwanIsNotChina
We had two Taiwan stories today so we need two reminders that this matters f all for de facto independence and de facto independence matters more than de jure independence.
Important to recognize that this only comes about through China demands and has zero legal or moral rationale.
So is Taiwan's position of independence.
Don't do illegal annexations and you don't have to worry about countries defending their legal territory.
Sh1mon M4sada
Comrade J, please refrain from expressing your own opinion, paramount leader Xi already issue edict, UNCLOS decision for Philippines and against China is harmful to CCP interest. Please repair brain, because ibternational law is not CCP law.