A US government spokesperson again called on Beijing to cease military intimidation of Taiwan after the Chinese military on Tuesday sent 29 military aircraft into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the third-highest single-day total this year.
“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure, and intimidation against Taiwan,” a spokesperson of the US Department of State, who asked not to be named, told reporters in an e-mail response when asked to comment on the latest incursions.
“We have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability, and we will maintain our commitments as outlined in the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Communiques and the six assurances,” the spokesperson said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
“The US commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region,” they said.
The Ministry of National Defense said the aircraft that flew into the zone included a communications aircraft, bombers, anti-submarine and refueling aircraft, as well as J-11, J-16 and SU-30 fighter jets.
Taiwan scrambled a combat air patrol, sent radio warnings and deployed defense missile systems to track the Chinese aircraft before they left the zone, the ministry said.
The ministry has been publishing information about such flights since Sept. 17, 2020, amid a rising number of intrusions into the zone.
The largest number of incursions in a single day was 56 on Oct. 4 last year, ministry data showed.
The highest number of incursions reported this year was 39 on Jan. 23, the data showed.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a defense expert and associate research fellow at the Taipei-based National Policy Foundation think tank, said that one thing worth noticing about Tuesday’s incursions was that eight of the 29 Chinese aircraft had flown deep into the southeastern part of the identification zone before heading toward the Philippine Sea.
It was a rare move by Chinese warplanes to fly into the Philippine Sea, Chieh said, adding that he believed the aircraft were part of separate exercises conducted by a larger long-term strike group.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday wrote on Twitter that the latest large-scale exercises by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were evidence that “authoritarian China’s military threat is more serious than ever.”
There is “no way Taiwan will cave in and surrender its sovereignty and democracy to the big bully,” Wu wrote.
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: The KMT urged the CECC to exclude Taiwanese from the arrivals cap, as they would lose their right to vote if they could not return by July 26 The COVID-19-related border control measures and the cap on the number of international arrivals are not being eased, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported 112 imported cases of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said a meeting was held yesterday morning in which the Cabinet decided that current border control measures would remain in place. He said the main considerations were global COVID-19 cases increasing 21 percent last week, imported cases of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 continuing to be detected
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday commenced mass production of 3-nanometer chips that are more powerful and efficient than predecessors, beating rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to a key milestone in the race to build the most advanced chips in the world. South Korea’s largest company said in a statement that it was beginning with 3-nanometer semiconductors for high-performance and specialized low-power computing applications before expanding to mobile processors. By applying so-called Gate-All-Around transistor architecture, Samsung’s 3-nanometer products reduce power consumption by up to 45 percent and improve performance by 23 percent compared with 5-nanometer chips, it said. Samsung’s push to be first
Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) has been criticized by the “Little Pink” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the Web — for saying “Hong Kong jia you [加油, an expression of encouragement].” To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on Friday, China Central Television made a series of programs in which it interviewed Cheung and other celebrities. Cheung, speaking in Cantonese, said in the interview that “Hong Kong has been through a lot in the past 25 years, including ups and downs” and ended with the phrase “Hong
‘STRONG SUPPORT’: Liberal International expressed concern over Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, saying they could undermine regional peace Liberal International on Saturday passed a “World Today Resolution” recognizing the threat that China poses to Taiwan, while supporting Taipei’s inclusion in international organizations. Liberal International was established in 1947 as a federation of liberal political parties from around the world. Last week, it held its 63rd congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which was attended by 221 representatives from 58 countries. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in her capacity as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), delivered a speech in a pre-recorded video at the congress’ opening on Thursday. DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) yesterday said the party, which has been a member of
RSS