Chinese military planes and ships surrounded Taiwan on Wednesday during a drill, with some of the aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
In total, 35 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and six warships were detected around the nation during China’s “joint combat readiness patrols,” the ministry said.
A flight map released by the ministry showed that 12 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, while 15 entered the northern, southwestern and eastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
The 12 aircraft that crossed the median line included two drones, which flew along Taiwan’s east coast before circling back, and one “support aircraft” that was flying off the main island’s southeastern shoreline.
Meanwhile, six PLA vessels were detected in waters near Taiwan in the 24-hour period starting at 6am on Wednesday, the ministry said.
The incursions took place between 12:03pm and 9:57pm, information released by the ministry showed.
On the question of what may have prompted the incursions, Association of Strategic Foresight research fellow Chieh Chung (揭仲) said he did not think it resulted from the presence of the Taiwan delegation on the sidelines of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
The Taiwanese delegation received the same level of hospitality as during the inauguration of previous US presidents, Chieh said.
Chieh was referring to the seating arranged for Taiwan’s delegation members, which were at nearby locations rather than the Capitol Rotunda where the ceremony was held and where seats were reserved for US big tech and business moguls, senior US politicians and other world leaders.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) — who led the delegation — said he and Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) joined other guests at the Capitol Visitor Center, called Emancipation Hall, to watch the swearing-in on a large screen.
Other members — seven cross-party lawmakers — watched a livestream in a VIP area of the Capital One Arena, just over a mile from the Capitol Building, Han said.
Furthermore, whenever China is aiming to send a political message by means of military activity, its actions usually include some form of propaganda, Chieh said, adding that there was none of that on Wednesday.
For example, the two “Joint Sword” exercises the PLA staged around Taiwan last year were accompanied by online videos of Chinese fighter jets and warships, as well as statements by Chinese officials released through Chinese state-controlled media shortly after the drills began, he said.
The lack of such propaganda on Wednesday suggests that the drill was routine, Chieh said.
The PLA has routinely staged three to five “Joint Combat Readiness Patrols” per month since February last year, he added.
Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, agreed that Wednesday’s drill was routine and not linked to the Taiwan delegation’s visit to the US.
There were no surprises during the Taiwan delegation’s visit to Washington for Trump’s inauguration, Lin said.
The PLA last staged an exercise on a similar scale on Jan. 14, when 14 of the 24 PLA aircraft detected in Taiwan’s ADIZ crossed the median line of the Strait during a joint combat readiness patrol.
During another drill a week earlier, 14 of the 25 PLA planes detected in the same area crossed the median line.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS