The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday.
Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week.
Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it has yet to formally announce any planned military drills.
Illustration: Taipei Times
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to answer when asked about launching military drills in response to Lai’s overseas trip, with spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) simply reiterating the importance of Chinese sovereignty and maintaining Chinese territorial integrity.
While the previous two exercises focused on drills by the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said its intelligence had identified naval formations not only in the Eastern Theater Command, but also in the Northern and Southern Theater Commands.
The ministry added that it had detected China Coast Guard vessels entering areas around the Taiwan Strait and Western Pacific.
Photo: AFP / CGA
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning joined the second Joint Sword military exercise in October. Whether the carrier would join a third one remains to be seen.
Another difference about the anticipated drills is the area covered by the seven reserved airspace zones, which range from Shanghai in the north and Shantou in the south, with two of the zones close to Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties.
The defense ministry said that it has initiated combat-readiness drills at strategic locations nationwide and was working closely with the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on appropriate countermeasures.
The CGA said it has detected “unusual activities” by several Chinese coast guard vessels in waters around Taiwan since Friday, including three last week and four yesterday.
Last week, the China Coast Guard ship No. 2901 navigated through waters south of the Taiwan Strait, while No. 1301 and No. 1302 ships navigated southward via waters off Taiwan’s northeast coast, the CGA said.
All three eventually gathered at about 50 to 60 nautical miles (93 km to 111km) off the northeast coast of Green Island on Taiwan’s east coast.
Yesterday, China Coast Guard vessels 2203, 2302, 2304 and 2307 navigated toward waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, the CGA said.
None of them entered Taiwan’s restricted waters, it added.
Using a one-on-one approach, the CGA also dispatched seven ships to closely monitor the whereabouts of the China Coast Guard ships, it said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS