A fleet of 19 Chinese military aircraft yesterday morning flew into Taiwan’s airspace in a pincer formation, marking the second consecutive day of such incursions, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Taiwan’s military responded by scrambling jets, issuing radio warnings, and mobilizing surveillance and air defense systems, the ministry said.
The Chinese aircraft fleet comprised 12 J-16 multirole strike fighters, two J-10 lightweight fighters, two J-11 air superiority fighters, two H-6 strategic bombers and a Y-8 transport plane, the ministry said.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Ministry of Defense
A ministry chart showed that the J-10 and J-11 fighters crossed the median line in the northern part of the Taiwan Strait, while the H-6 bombers and the Y-8 plane entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone.
A pincer movement, also known as a double envelopment, is designed to attack the enemy on two flanks.
Such maneuvers by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are provocative actions that infringe on Taiwan’s sovereignty, the ministry said, urging Beijing to exercise restraint and stop being a “troublemaker” in the region.
On Friday, 18 PLA aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace, the ministry said.
The incursions coincided with a three-day visit by a US delegation headed by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach, who attended a memorial service yesterday for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
The PLA flights into Taiwanese airspace might be part of a “combat exercise” aimed at intimidating the nation and wearing down its air force, a military source said.
The intrusions on Friday are another example of how China is increasingly using its military to coerce Taiwan, a US Department of Defense spokesman said.
Pentagon spokesman John Supple said that the “aggressive and destabilizing actions” by China’s military reflect “a continued attempt to alter the status quo and rewrite history.”
“This is another example of [China] increasingly using its military as a tool of coercion with Taiwan and other neighbors,” Supple said.
“Taiwan’s security — and its people’s ability to determine their future, free from coercion — remains a vital interest to the United States and is integral to regional security,” he added.
Separately, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the PLA’s actions “military blustering.”
“We sent the delegation to a funeral and the Chinese have apparently responded by military blustering. I’ll leave it at that,” Pompeo told reporters while on a visit to Guyana.
Supple declined to confirm media reports that the US is preparing to approve a large arms sale to Taiwan, saying that the government does not comment on pending arms sales or transfers before formally notifying the US Congress.
CNN on Friday reported that the US is planning to sell seven packages of weapon systems to Taiwan, citing anonymous congressional and administration sources, but said it was unclear when Congress would receive formal notification, as is required by law.
The package is expected to include a large sale of MQ-9B Reaper drones, along with associated equipment and program support, at a value of about US$600 million, said one US official cited in the article.
The most sensitive portion of the proposed package is a long-range air-to-ground missile, the Boeing-made AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER, which could be used by Taiwan’s F-16s, the New York Times reported.
After Reuters on Wednesday broke the news of the potentially imminent sale, the ministry released a statement dismissing the report as “media speculation.”
Taiwan’s military handles arms purchase deals that are under evaluation or being negotiated, based on the principles of confidentiality and discretion, the ministry said, adding that it only publicly reports such deals after the US Department of State has formally notified Congress.
Pursuing seven sales at once is a “rare departure” from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were “spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing,” the Reuters report said.
Additional reporting by AFP
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS