The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday reported a surge in Chinese military activity on Wednesday, but officials said they did not detect any live-fire exercises in a drill zone off the southwestern coast of Taiwan.
The MND on Wednesday said the Chinese military had set up a zone for “shooting” drills in the southwestern part of the Taiwan Strait off Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.
The government condemned the move as dangerous, provocative, and a threat to commercial flights and shipping, adding that no prior notice was given.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
In its daily morning update of Chinese military activities in the prior 24 hours, the ministry said it had detected 45 Chinese military aircraft and 14 navy ships operating around the nation.
They included seven ships in the Chinese-declared drill zone, 40 nautical miles (74km) off Taiwan.
In an accompanying map, the ministry showed the location of the drill zone, which it said was 70 nautical miles long and 20 nautical miles wide, although well outside of Taiwanese territorial waters.
Two senior officials, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation, said the MND did not detect any live-fire shooting in China’s “drill zone,” and there was no further escalation of military tensions.
The Chinese move was very similar to China’s other recent military activities in the region, such as in the South China Sea and the exercises off Australia’s east coast, during which China’s navy did not give adequate notice about its exercises, they said.
“This is extremely rare and exceeds general expectations,” one of the officials said, referring to the Chinese military’s move of running exercises without prior warning.
“Allies are exchanging ideas,” the official said. “The democratic camp must do some risk management for our defense.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that China was the region’s “biggest troublemaker.”
The foreign ministry “calls on the international community to continue to pay attention to the security of the Taiwan Strait and the region, and to jointly condemn China’s repeated and unilateral actions,” it said yesterday.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense said the drills were “routine” and Taiwan should stop complaining.
At a regular news briefing in Beijing, ministry spokesperson Wu Qian (吳謙) said that Taiwan was seeking attention.
“The relevant Taiwan authorities’ comments on the People’s Liberation Army’s routine exercises are hype, and we require them to stop playing tricks for more attention,” he said.
Next week, China is to hold the annual meeting of its largely rubber-stamp parliament, the country’s biggest domestic political event, where it is to unveil its defense budget for the year.
Next month also marks the 20th anniversary of China’s “anti-secession” law that allows it to use force on Taiwan in extreme cases, although the legislation is vague.
A third senior Taiwanese official, who is familiar with government policy toward China, said that Taipei has made “the best preparations for the worst-case scenario” in the event China escalates its rhetoric toward Taiwan ahead of the anniversary, adding that pre-parliament drills were “very rare.”
“They escalated the level of intimidation for no reason. It is not conducive to cross-strait stability and relations at all,” the official added.
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