Dozens of Chinese warplanes and 10 navy ships were detected around Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, after warning that Beijing was conducting air and sea drills in the western Pacific.
Ten Chinese naval vessels and 68 aircraft were detected near the nation between 6am on Wednesday and 6am yesterday, the ministry said in a statement.
Forty of the aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the southwest or southeast air defense identification zone (ADIZ), it said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
This was followed by another 13 aircraft entering the southwest ADIZ yesterday, the ministry said in a separate statement.
Taipei had already said some of those planes and warships were heading to an unspecified area of the western Pacific to “conduct joint sea and air training” with China’s Shandong aircraft carrier.
The Shandong, one of two operational aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet, was detected on Monday about 110km southeast of Taiwan heading into the Pacific, the ministry said.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense also said on Wednesday that its navy had detected six ships — including frigates, destroyers, one fast combat support ship and the Shandong — sailing in waters about 650km south of Miyakojima Island.
It also confirmed that jets and helicopters had been detected taking off and landing on the Shandong.
Taipei this week said that China was stepping up “gray zone” activities around Taiwan, accusing Beijing of seeking to raise regional tensions and pressure the territory while avoiding all-out conflict.
China’s military “has been tasked to develop capabilities to take over Taiwan,” one expert said.
“Those military exercises are aimed at developing and practicing those capabilities,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Washington-based German Marshall Fund. “We should expect its trend to continue, with growing pressure on Taiwan.”
China has not commented officially on any drills being conducted in the western Pacific, but the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, which organizes drills around Taiwan, said on Wednesday that an “aviation unit” had carried out training “recently” in a range of “thousands of kilometers” without mentioning Taiwan.
In April, China conducted military exercises to simulate the encirclement of Taiwan after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) met US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
At the time, Taiwan detected 71 Chinese warplanes in a 24-hour period, matching the record daily high set in December last year.
China last week said its troops were “on constant high alert,” after two ships belonging to the US and Canada sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
The US Navy said the transit demonstrated “the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Additional reporting by CNA
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS