China’s Ministry of National Defense on Thursday accused Taiwan’s government of deliberately “hyping up” a military threat from China for electoral gain ahead of elections in just over two weeks, but again sent warplanes into the Taiwan Strait.
As the Jan. 13 elections draw near, Taiwan has reported Chinese fighter jets and warships around the nation, as well as balloons crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, although the military says they are most likely for weather monitoring purposes.
Speaking at a monthly news conference in Beijing, ministry spokesperson Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said that Taiwan’s government was to blame for the tensions.
Photo: Emily Wang Fujiyama, AP
“The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are deliberately hyping up the so-called ‘military threat from the mainland’ and exaggerating tensions,” Wu said.
“This is entirely to seek electoral gain,” he added, accusing Taiwan of using a “familiar electoral playbook to stoke confrontation and manipulate the election.”
Shortly after Wu spoke, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in Taipei reported further Chinese military activities in the Strait, saying it had detected 12 military aircraft crossing the median line or flying close to it on Thursday afternoon.
It said the aircraft, including J-11 and Su-30 jets, entered airspace to the north, center and southwest of Taiwan, and “cooperated with communist ships to carry out joint combat readiness patrols.”
Wu reiterated that China did not recognize the median line.
“Taiwan is a part of China. The ‘median line’ absolutely does not exist,” he said.
The MND this week said it was not seeing any signs of large-scale Chinese military activity before the elections, but was keeping a close watch on China.
Wu said China’s People’s Liberation Army was well aware of Taiwan’s military movements.
“We will, as always, take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
From the start of this month, Taiwan has reported a spate of Chinese balloons drifting over the Taiwan Strait, saying they were probably monitoring weather conditions.
Wu declined to comment on the balloons.
China has also been angered by US arms sales to Taiwan.
“We firmly oppose any country having official and military contact with Taiwan in any form,” Wu added. “The US is manipulating the Taiwan question in various forms, which is a very dangerous gamble.”
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight