Taiwan appealed on Monday (18) for China to immediately stop “destructive unilateral actions”, after Taipei detected the presence of more than 100 planes and nine warships from Beijing in the surroundings of the autonomous island, a record. in recent months.
“Between the mornings of September 17 and 18, the Ministry of National Defense detected a total of 103 Chinese aircraft, a recent record and which represents serious challenges to the security of the Taiwan Strait,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Continued military harassment could easily lead to a sudden increase in tension and worsen regional security,” added the ministry, demanding in the note that Beijing “immediately halt such destructive unilateral actions.”
China considers the self-governing island a province of the country, which awaits reunification with the rest of its territory. In recent years, Beijing has increased diplomatic and military pressure against Taiwan.
Of all the aircraft detected between Sunday and Monday, 40 crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from mainland China and entered the southeast and southwest parts of its air defense identification zone, according to the ministry’s statement.
Taiwanese authorities also identified the presence of nine Chinese Navy ships.
On Sunday, Taipei announced the detection of 28 Chinese warplanes near the island, including 20 that crossed the strait’s midline.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not make specific comments on the situation, but ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reaffirmed Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China.
“What I would like to state is that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory and that the so-called middle line does not exist,” he declared.
Increase in incursions
Last week, Taipei reported an increase in the number of incursions by Chinese military aircraft.
The increase came after Beijing announced that its troops were on “high alert” due to the passage, at the beginning of the month, of two ships belonging to the United States and Canada through the Taiwan Strait.
The Defense Ministry said 68 aircraft and 10 vessels were detected around the island between Wednesday and Thursday.
Some planes and warships were heading to an unspecified area of the western Pacific for “joint maritime and air training” with the Chinese aircraft carrier “Shandong”, according to the ministry.
“Shandong” is one of two operational aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet. Last week, the ship was nearly 60 nautical miles (110 km) southeast of Taiwan, heading toward the western Pacific, Taipei authorities said.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said last week it had detected six Chinese ships within 650 kilometers of the island of Miyakojima, east of Taiwan.
It also recorded the presence of helicopters and planes taking off and landing on the aircraft carrier. China has made no official comment on the military exercises in the western Pacific.
Some analyzes consider that China may be displaying strength to counter the influence of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, where several military exercises have been organized recently.
In recent months, the United States military has carried out maneuvers with South Korea in the Yellow Sea, others with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea, as well as with 19 nations in Indonesia.
“Politically, China wants to counterattack the military capacity of its democratic allies led by the United States,” Su Tzu-yun, an analyst at Taiwan’s National Institute of National Defense and Security Research, told AFP.
In April, Beijing organized three days of military exercises that simulated the siege of the island in response to a meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, in California.
At the time, the island detected 71 Chinese aircraft in a 24-hour period, equaling the previous record for just one day recorded in December 2022.
© Agence France-Presse
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