China’s increase of military pressure around Taiwan is not legitimate and would increase tension, the US Department of State said yesterday as a surge of Chinese military activity has been detected around Taiwan before the annual Han Kuang military exercises starting next Wednesday.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said as of 6am today, 41 Chinese aircraft and eight navy vessels had been detected around Taiwan over the past 24 hours.
Twenty-seven of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central and southwestern air defense identification zones (ADIZ), the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
The armed forces “monitored the situation and employed [patrol] aircraft, navy vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities,” the ministry said.
The US sees peace in the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable factor for the peace and prosperity of the international community, a spokesperson of the US Department of State told the Central News Agency yesterday.
China’s military threats against Taiwan are irresponsible, the official said, urging Beijing to avoid taking further actions that could undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region.
The US would continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s coercion in military, economy and diplomacy, the official said.
In addition, a Chinese carrier rocket flew through the southwestern section of Taiwan's ADIZ yesterday but remained outside the Earth's atmosphere and posed no threat to Taiwan, the MND said.
The rocket, launched at 5:37pm from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, was carrying a satellite as it headed toward the western Pacific, the MND said.
The defense ministry said it closely tracked the launch using its joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, and appropriate alert and response measures were in place throughout.
The MND had announced the previous day that the launch was expected to occur at 5:35pm yesterday, with the rocket passing through Taiwan's ADIZ on a western Pacific trajectory.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the