Taiwan: Taiwan’s Defence Minister has called China’s increased military activities around the island “abnormal” and warned that it may lead to an accidental clash and the situation “getting out of hand.”
In recent weeks, several Chinese fighter jets, drones, bombers, and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese carrier Shandong, have been found near democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory. Defence Minister Mr. Chiu Kuo-cheng commented that the risk of an accidental clash “is something we are very worried about.”
“The risks of activities involving aircraft, ships, and weapons will increase, and both sides must pay attention,” Mr. Chiu told reporters.
The Minister noted that “warships from China’s southern and eastern theatre commands have been operating together off Taiwan’s east coast in apparent combat drills.” Mr. Chiu observed that when China’s Shandong aircraft carrier was out at sea, it was operating as the “opposing force” in the drills. Taiwan’s Defence Ministry spokesman Mr. Sun Li-fang stated that China’s Eastern Theatre Command forces were the “attacking force,” simulating a battle scenario.
Recently, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry reported a “recent high” of 103 Chinese warplanes monitored around the island within a 24-hour period. Dozens more planes have been detected, with many briefly crossing a median line bisecting the Taiwan Strait, a 180-kilometre waterway separating the island from China.
According to the Defence Ministry, 32 Chinese aircraft were detected within the previous 24 hours, publishing a map that illustrated the flight path of 17 planes crossing the median line. Last week, the Ministry said that it was “monitoring [China’s] long-range artillery, rocket forces, and ground troops around Fujian province’s Dacheng Bay,” an area facing the island across the Taiwan Strait.
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