Beijing’s unilateral military provocation is unhelpful to peaceful stability in the region and the development of cross-strait relations, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said yesterday.
“Taiwanese will not support Beijing’s military provocation,” Chang said.
The remarks came after 20 Chinese bombers and jets on Friday entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, an apparent reaction to Taipei and Washington on Thursday signing a memorandum of understanding to bolster maritime cooperation.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft that made the incursion were 10 J-16 multirole fighters, two J-10 multirole fighters, four H-6K bombers, two Y-8 marine patrol planes, one KJ-500 early warning and control plane, and one Y-8 tactical reconnaissance plane, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The Y-8s and the H-6Ks flew an almost half-circle path within the zone to the south of Taiwan, while the other aircraft operated in airspace between Taiwan proper and the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), a chart provided by the ministry showed.
Chang yesterday said that the nation’s armed forces and national security agencies were in full control of the incident and reacted appropriately.
The ministry on Friday said that the air force scrambled planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets until they left.
“This dangerous provocation by autocratic #China highlights the threats faced by democratic #Taiwan on the front line. But we aren’t interested in caving in. Such actions won’t stop us from being a force for good in the world & reliable partner of like-minded countries,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) wrote on his ministry’s Twitter account yesterday.
Separately, the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs on Friday wrote on Twitter that “our commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid. We urge Beijing to cease its provocative behavior and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan.”
The department also urged China to stop pressuring Taiwan.
“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan,” a department spokesman said in a statement.
China’s show of force was the biggest in terms of number of planes deployed since the defense ministry began to make public PLA aircraft movements near Taiwan in the middle of September last year.
On Feb. 19, nine Chinese planes entered the zone after two US lawmakers reintroduced a bill in the US Senate and US House of Representatives to deter Beijing from using force against Taiwan.
The following day, 11 planes were reported.
China sent numerous planes to the southern part of the zone on the first weekend after US President Joe Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20 in what was widely interpreted as Beijing sending a message to Biden to not continue former US president Donald Trump’s level of support for Taiwan.
In other developments, Chang, in response to a Chinese boycott of apparel brands that expressed concern over Beijing’s human rights record in Xingjiang, yesterday said Beijing should be aware that nothing could be gained by turning patriotic and nationalistic furor against private enterprises.
Such behavior contradicts “the goal of transforming China into a so-called responsible great power,” Chang said. “The authorities in Bejing should confront the issue of Uighur human rights and the reality that only the cessation of oppression would end the international community’s criticism.”
Commenting on Taiwanese entertainers who joined China’s boycott, Chang said: “Our freedom and democracy are what enable Taiwanese to freely express themselves, and this is why we must protect our way of life.”
Public figures should be mindful that their influence brings a measure of responsibility to respect human rights as a universal value, he said.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique