Taiwan said Thursday China had flown 68 warplanes and deployed 10 navy vessels into areas around the island in one day just weeks after the first-ever US military transfer of equipment to the island.
The incursion came after Taipei said 35 Chinese warplanes were detected around the self-ruled island on Wednesday, with some then flying to join China’s Shandong aircraft carrier for naval drills in the Western Pacific.
’68 PLA aircraft and 10 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected’ between Wednesday and Thursday morning, Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement, referring to China’s army and navy.
Democratically-governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has complained in recent years of stepped-up Chinese military activities near the island as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims.
President Joe Biden’s administration for the first approved direct US military aid to Taiwan under an assistance program aimed at foreign government in late August.
Taiwan said Thursday China had flown 68 warplanes and deployed 10 navy vessels into areas around the island in one day just weeks after the first-ever US military transfer of equipment to the island
The State Department informed Congress of the $80 million package, which is small compared with recent sales to Taiwan but marks the first assistance to Taipei under the Foreign Military Financing program, which generally involves grants or loans to sovereign countries.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said that beginning at around 6 a.m. local time, Chinese warplanes, including J-10 fighters, had flown into the southwestern corner of the island’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ.
Some of the Chinese aircraft crossed the Bashi Channel to carry out drills with the Chinese aircraft carrier the Shandong in the Pacific, the ministry added.
China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan’s forces monitored the situation, including sending up its own air force planes and activating air defense systems, the ministry added, using the normal phrasing for its response to such Chinese incursions.
A Chinese naval formation led by the Shandong entered the western Pacific for training, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Monday.
Japan´s defense ministry later said its Maritime Self-Defense Force had spotted the Shandong and five accompanying Chinese navy vessels, including two frigates and two missile destroyers, around 400 miles south off Japan´s southwestern Miyako island on Wednesday morning.
Japan sent a destroyer to monitor the Chinese ships and confirmed that jet fighters and helicopters aboard the Shandong conducted landing training, the ministry added.
Then-Speaker of the U.S. House Of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, the first speaker to do so in 25 years
The incursion came after Taipei said 35 Chinese warplanes were detected around the self-ruled island on Wednesday, with some then flying to join China’s Shandong aircraft carrier for naval drills in the Western Pacific
Democratically-governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has complained in recent years of stepped-up Chinese military activities near the island as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims
Separately, more than 20 Chinese warships, including Type 055 destroyers, sailed through the Bashi channel and Miyako Strait into the Pacific on Wednesday, a senior official familiar with security planning in the region told Reuters.
The Chinese naval maneuver, along with the training exercises by the carrier group, were an ‘obvious challenge’ to the recent military activities by the United States and its allies in the region, the person said.
‘They want to show that they got the total control of the west of the first island chain,’ the person said, referring to the area which runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China’s coastal seas.
A US and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said, marking the second such joint mission since June and coinciding with the leaders of both countries attending the G20 summit in India.
The two countries’ navies also conducted a series of exercises in the South China Sea this week, according to the US Navy.
China has been increasing its military operations around Taiwan over the past few years in response to what it calls ‘collusion’ between Taiwan independence forces and the US.
For five decades, the United States has officially recognized only Beijing although Congress, under the Taiwan Relations Act, requires the supply of weapons to the self-governing democracy for its defense.
The State Department insisted that the first-ever aid under the program did not imply any recognition of Taiwan sovereignty.
President Joe Biden ‘s administration for the first approved direct US military aid to Taiwan under an assistance program aimed at foreign government in late August
View over Xiamen City in Fujian province from Dadan Island’s beach in Taiwan
‘Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and our longstanding One China policy, which has not changed, the United States makes available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,’ a State Department spokesperson said.
‘The United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, which is critical to regional and global security and prosperity.’
Taiwan’s defense ministry expressed gratitude. ‘The aid will help in regional peace and stability,’ it said in a short statement.
China’s defense ministry, asked about the aid at a regular briefing, warned that US military aid to Taiwan would harm the island.
‘US military aid and sales to Taiwan only nourish the US military-industrial complex while harming the security and well-being of Taiwan compatriots,’ spokesperson Wu Qian told a briefing.
‘In this regard, the People’s Liberation Army will, as always, take all necessary measures to resolutely counter it,’ he added, referring to the Chinese military by its official name.
The State Department did not formally announce the aid or give details, but a person familiar with the notice said the assistance would involve support to improve awareness at sea.
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