Two sorties of Chinese drones were detected flying around the perimeter of Taiwan proper between 6am on Saturday and 6am yesterday, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
A total of 31 Chinese military aircraft — which included several drones — and 12 Chinese warships were detected operating in and near the Taiwan Strait over the 24-hour period, the ministry said.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said the maneuvers were likely aimed at affecting public sentiment in Taiwan, demonstrating defiance toward the US’ two-plus-two talks with India and Australia, and enacting China’s polarized strategy of pushing war and peace as two alternatives against Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Two of the drones had entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from the northwest separately after 11:50am on Saturday, and then circled Taiwan proper, the ministry said.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense on Saturday also detected a Chinese drone flying in waters over the East China Sea between Taiwan and Yonaguni Island in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, before turning south toward the Bashi Channel, it said.
The Japanese ministry also detected a Shaanxi Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft flying over the East China Sea in airspace between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture, it said.
Beijing frequently reacts to international cooperation in the region by holding drills in or near the Taiwan Strait, Su said.
Citing an example, he said that it had held drills following an announcement by Vietnam and the Philippines about planned joint naval exercises.
Beijing’s attitude toward Taiwan was also demonstrated on China’s People’s Liberation Army Day on Thursday last week, when it published through state media cartoons depicting attacks on Taiwanese cities including Taipei, Kaohsiung and Hualien, he said.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday said he believes that China’s recent military exercises near Taiwan were part of its cognitive warfare efforts, and were aimed at intimidating the Taiwanese public.
Taiwan should improve its defense capabilities and integrate international cooperation into its strategy to better prepare itself against Chinese threats, he said.
However, aggression from China would only result in democracies strengthening ties and cooperation, he said, adding that Taiwan would face any threat head-on.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
RSS