The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force last month made 446 incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the Defense Post reported on Thursday.
Last month’s incursions far surpassed the number recorded during the whole of 2020, the report said.
“The median line [of the Taiwan Strait] has long been seen as a way to avoid conflict, but China has begun whittling away at it,” Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program at think tank the German Marshall Fund of the US, was cited by Voice of America as saying in a report on Friday.
Photo: AFP / The Ministry of National Defense
China would likely conduct more exercises with the aim of “narrowing Taiwan’s operating space and calling into question its claim to an ADIZ and an [exclusive economic zone],” the report quoted her as saying.
Putting last month’s 446 incursions into context, the report cited publicly available information from the Taiwan ADIZ Violations Tracker database showing that there were only 23 such incursions between September 2020 and July 31.
“They are seeking to wear down Taiwan’s pilots and maintenance crews and instill a sense of psychological despair among the population,” Voice of America quoted Glaser as saying.
Crystal Tu (杜貞儀), assistant research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that despite US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on Aug. 2 and 3 — which China has used as an excuse for the incursions — China would eventually have ramped up its military exercises anyway.
The visit was merely a “trigger,” pushing China to do so sooner, she said.
In related news, a military source in Taipei yesterday said that the army plans to hold live-fire exercises in southern Taiwan this week that would test the combat capabilities of its various units.
The Eighth Army Corps would hold the regular Lien Yung drill in Pingtung County’s Joint Operations Training Base Command from tomorrow to Friday, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.
The army’s Combined Arms Battalion, snipers, tanks, armored vehicles and mortars would be tested during the four-day live-fire exercises, the source said.
The Aviation and Special Forces Command would also dispatch AH-64E Apache and AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters to join the exercises, the source added.
The Lien Yung drill is normally held six times a year. It is the armed forces’ second-largest drill, following the annual Han Kuang exercises that involve all branches of the military.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS