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.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS