Taiwan is not going to take any action that could start a war with China, but it is also not going to back down from any threats, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Tuesday.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has never given up the idea of using force to resolve the Taiwan matter, ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said, commenting on a Chinese training mission that saw military aircraft flying close to Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The ministry said a Chinese Xian H-6 bomber flew west of the median line of the Taiwan Strait from south to north early on Tuesday, apparently headed back to base after flight training.
It was the second time in 24 hours that Chinese bombers were spotted flying close to Taiwanese airspace, following the sighting on Monday of four Xian H-6 bombers.
The Miyako Strait, which lies between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa, is part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, but includes a narrow band of international waters and airspace.
The ministry has said that using routes along the western side of the median line of the Taiwan Strait or passing through the Miyako Strait south of Okinawa could become a regular part of the PLA’s long-distance sea training involving warships and aircraft.
The ministry on Friday last week released photographs showing two Chinese H-6K bombers, one of which was being tailed by an Indigenous Defense Fighter, in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.
All of the nation’s military intelligence units were mobilized to monitor the movements of the Chinese military over the past two weeks and they would continue to do so, Chen said on Tuesday.
If China’s military intrudes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone again, the nation would safeguard its airspace and marine areas based on its rules of engagement for emergency situations in wartime, Chen said.
Taiwan would neither act in a cowardly manner nor dodge any military threats, he said.
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