Following China’s assertion on Monday that there is no “median line” in the Taiwan Strait, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday pledged to defend the nation’s airspace during a visit to an air force base in Penghu, saying that Taiwan cannot allow others to flex their military muscle in its territorial airspace.
Tsai praised the “heroic performance” of the pilots of the Indigenous Defense Fighters who have been intercepting Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes in recent days.
“I have a lot of confidence in you. As soldiers of the Republic of China [ROC], how could we let enemies strut around in our own airspace?” she said, implicitly rejecting Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin’s (汪文斌) comment on Monday that the median line of the Taiwan Strait does not exist, because ‘Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”
Photo: CNA
“I’m aware that facing the provocative behavior of the communist planes that have encircled the island and damaged regional peace in recent days. Your duty at the front line of the airspace in Penghu must be even heavier,” Tsai told the members of the Tien Chu (天駒, Heavenly Colt) unit, who are stationed at Penghu Airport from April to September every year.
“Our men and women in uniform have the will & ability to defend #Taiwan & are not intimidated by #PRC intrusions in our airspace. We are dedicated to maintaining peace & stability in the region,” she later wrote in English on Twitter.
As of yesterday, a total of 43 Chinese air force planes have flown into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone since Wednesday last week, with some crossing over the median line of the Strait on Friday and Saturday, the Ministry of National Defense’s Web site showed.
Photo: CNA
“The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] claims there’s no median line of the #Taiwan Strait after #PLA [People’s Liberation Army] warplanes crossed it repeatedly. I call on the international community to condemn the CCP for its dangerous & provocative words & deeds threatening peace & the status quo. #China must back off!” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) wrote on Twitter yesterday.
His comment followed a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei on Monday that said Wang’s statement would sabotage the cross-strait “status quo,” just as Beijing had ruined Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” framework by imposing a National Security Law on the territory.
It called on Beijing to stop its blatant expansionism and urged the international community to condemn Beijing’s behavior.
In rejecting the median line, Beijing shows no regard for regional security, said Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Division of National Defense Resources and Industries at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
The median line, established by the US in the 1950s, created a buffer zone that has been tacitly recognized by Beijing for decades, he said.
The world must be told that China is unilaterally changing the cross-strait “status quo,” Su said.
He said that he considered the possibility of a cross-strait conflict to be low, as China provoking a military conflict would push Taiwan closer to other democratic nations.
Meanwhile, US Representative Ted Yoho on Monday said both Taiwan and the US need to be ready to confront the PLA.
“#Taiwan continues to prepare for the very real possibility of a Chinese PLA invasion by building up its defense posture. The US must be ready to come to the aid of our democratic partner by supporting the #TaiwanInvasionPreventionAct,” Yoho wrote on Twitter, referring to a bill that he introduced in July that would establish a limited authorization for a US president to use military force to protect Taiwan against an armed attack.
Additional reporting by Reuters
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
RSS