The Ministry of National Defense yesterday again asked Beijing to exercise self-restraint, as China conducted mock missile strikes and dispatched fighters reportedly carrying live missiles during two-day “Joint Sword-2024A” exercises around Taiwan.
The ministry said, from 6am on Thursday to 6am yesterday, it had detected 49 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft operating near Taiwan, 35 of which crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
An unspecified number flew as close as 40 nautical miles (74km) from Keelung, a ministry map showed.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Nineteen PLA Navy vessels and seven Chinese coast guard ships continued to operate in the Taiwan Strait, it said, adding that Taiwan’s armed forces monitored the situation and deployed combat air patrol aircraft, vessels and coastal missile defense systems in response.
Yesterday evening, the ministry said it had detected 62 PLA aircraft around Taiwan, 47 of which crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, as well as 27 ships on the second day of the drills starting from 7:14am.
Beijing on Thursday morning announced two days of military drills around Taiwan as “punishment” for “separatist acts.”
Photo: I-hwa Cheng, AFP
China’s state-run China Central Television (CCTV) said that PLA bombers set up several attack formations in waters east of Taiwan, carrying out mock attacks in coordination with naval vessels.
A senior Taiwanese security official said that several Chinese bombers conducted mock attacks on foreign vessels near the eastern end of the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines, practicing how to seize “total control” of areas west of the first island chain.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that several Chinese coast guard ships also conduced “harassment” drills off the east coast, including mock inspections of civilian ships.
China’s coast guard yesterday said it conducted “law enforcement drills” in waters east of Taiwan, focused on training on verification and identification, warning and repulsion.
Chinese vessel the Nantong (南通) carried out combat readiness patrol and practical drill missions in the Taiwan Strait, with Taiwanese vessel Zhenghe (鄭和) following 0.6 nautical miles behind, CCTV said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said Taiwan would not succumb to pressure.
“We will not make any concessions because of this Chinese military exercise, because it concerns the development of democracy in Taiwan,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EU, UN and other international partners reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
“China’s military activities that started today around Taiwan increase cross-strait tensions,” the EU’s European External Action Service said in a statement on Thursday.
Cross-strait peace and stability are “of strategic importance for regional and global security and prosperity,” it said, adding that the EU “has a direct interest in the preservation of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.”
The agency voiced opposition to any change to the “status quo” by force or coercion, and called on all parties to “exercise restraint and avoid any actions that may further escalate cross-strait tensions.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric urged all sides to “refrain from acts that could escalate tensions in the region.”
“I can tell you that we’re of course following the developments in the Taiwan Straits closely,” he said.
A US Department of State spokesperson said Washington was “monitoring [the drills] very closely” in coordination with Taipei.
China’s actions risk escalation and undermine long-standing norms that have maintained regional peace and stability for decades, they said, adding that Taiwan’s political transition is a normal and routine part of its democratic process, and should not be used as a pretext for provocative or coercive measures.
The spokesperson added that the US is confident in its force posture and operations in the region to ensure peace and stability and to meet its national security commitments.
A public relations officer of the US Navy 7th Fleet said it pays attention to “all of the activities” in the Indo-Pacific and takes “very seriously” the responsibility to deter aggression in the region.
US Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, and US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a ranking member of the committee, in a statement said that Beijing’s intimidation against Taiwan was unacceptable.
They called on the US and international society to stand firmly together with Taiwan in response to China’s unprovoked attempts to intimidate democracies around the world.
Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Doan Khac Viet on Thursday said that Vietnam hopes for cross-strait peace and stability, which are in line with global and regional interests, and beneficial for the people on both sides of the Strait.
Additional reporting by CNA and AFP
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