China’s attempts at expanding into waters around Taiwan are facing international pushback, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said.
Beijing’s expansion into the Taiwan Strait, and East China and South China seas has triggered international countermeasures, the NSB said in a report to the Legislative Yuan.
The US and China have not changed their strategic rivalry, it said. The US is closely monitoring China’s coercive “gray zone” tactics in the Indo-Pacific region and expressed support for maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait. Meanwhile, China maintains its position on Taiwan, emphasizing its right to enforce its laws in the South China Sea, and has attempted to exclude the US in the ongoing issue according to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea agreement.
Photo: AFP
As a way to counter the US’ containment strategy, China has also suspended arms control and arms proliferation consultations with the US, the NSB added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has tried to prepare his party and armed forces for military conflict at sea, and promote the construction of “modern” sea and air border defenses, the report said.
China has also expanded its jurisdiction in the region through laws such as China Coast Guard Regulation No. 3, which allows the coast guard to board and hold vessels in disputed waters it claims, as well as augmenting its patrols and surveillance at sea, the NSB said.
In the area around the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has renovated coastal airports and used military exercises to demonstrate the integration of its maritime policing and military capabilities and put pressure on Taiwan, it said.
The PLA has frequently crossed into the restricted waters around Taiwan’s outlying islands with military, non-military and dual-use vessels, and has even sent small speedboats to Linkou (林口) and Tamsui (淡水), expanding the potential area of “gray zone” tactics and further harassing Taiwan, the report said.
In the East China Sea, the PLA recently sent four armed vessels to the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — also known as the Senkakus in Japan — in addition to its patrols around Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and sending an intelligence-gathering plane in Japan’s airspace for the first time in August, it said.
In the South China Sea, the PLA held joint naval exercises with the Russian navy for the first time in eight years and has made controversial actions such as ramming Philippine Coast Guard vessels, it added.
In response, the US and its allies have frequently highlighted the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and have opposed China’s provocations, the report said.
The US has made Japan the centerpiece of its Indo-Pacific strategy through the recently upgraded US unified command in Japan, its attempts to bring Japan closer to the Philippines and Australia, the AUKUS security alliance and the Quad — consisting of Australia, Japan, India and the US, the NSB said.
European countries are also increasingly expressing their concerns about the stability and peace in the region by making more frequent transits through the Taiwan Strait and their participation in joint military training exercises, it added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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