TAIPEI: Taiwan said on Thursday that it was closely monitoring the Chinese military, which it said was a growing threat to the region, after the unrest fighter aircraft passing near the island to join exercises with China Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
The Chinese military exercise coincided with a NATO summit in Washington, where a draft communiqué said China had become a supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Beijing continued to pose a systemic challenge to Europe and its security.
Shandong passed close to Philippines en route to Pacific training, Taiwan defense minister said there. In its daily update on China’s military activities over the past 24 hours, released on Thursday morning, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had detected 66 Chinese nationals. military aircraft around the island.
Of those, 39 passed through southern and southeastern Taiwan, the ministry said. On Wednesday, the ministry said it had detected 36 aircraft heading to the Western Pacific to conduct exercises with Shandong.
Taiwan’s defense ministry released two images, a black-and-white image of a Chinese J-16 fighter jet and a color image of a nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, which it said were taken recently but did not say exactly where or when.
“The military has a detailed understanding of activities in the seas and waters around the Taiwan Strait, including Communist Chinese aircraft and ships,” ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said in a statement.
Taiwanese forces have tracked down two Chinese warplanes that were photographed, he said.
China’s defense ministry has not responded to requests for comment on Shandong’s activities.
Speaking to military officers in Taipei, President Lai Ching-te said he would continue to strengthen the island’s defenses.
“Communist China’s threat to regional stability continues to rise, and its gray zone intrusion into the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas is also increasing day by day, which is a common challenge to global democracy,” he said, according to a statement from his office.
Taiwan says China is using “gray zone” tactics that stop actual fighting to try and pressure Taiwanese forces, including regular coast guard patrols near the Taiwanese-held island of Kinmen that is within China’s sights.
Taiwan has previously reported Shandong operating near the island, including in December, when it crossed the Taiwan Strait just weeks before Taiwan’s election, although experts say China is still far from controlling the carrier’s operations.
Taiwan, which China considers its own territory, has complained about repeated Chinese military activity over the past four years as Beijing seeks to pressure the democratically-ruled island, which rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
A spokesman for China’s mission to the European Union said that the draft declaration of the NATO summit was full of “war rhetoric”, and that the content related to China contained provocations, “lies, incitement, and smears.”
Ahead of the summit, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters that it “welcomes NATO’s continued increase in attention to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region in the new year, and actively strengthens exchanges and interactions with countries in the Indo-Pacific region”.
Taiwan is not the only hot spot for security issues involving China and Russia in the region. Japan’s self-defense forces said in a statement that they had tracked two Russian frigates on Wednesday passing between two islands at the western end of the Okinawa chain near Taiwan, heading southwest into the Pacific Ocean.
China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the disputed South China Sea, and their meetings have become increasingly tense as Beijing asserts its claim to Manila’s exclusive economic zone. US allies Australia and Japan are also increasing their military activities.
The Philippine Air Force arrived in northern Australia on Wednesday in its first overseas deployment in six decades for joint combat training with US and Australian fighter jets.
A Japanese navy destroyer also entered Chinese territorial waters near Taiwan this month without notifying China, prompting “serious concern” from Beijing, Japanese media reported on Wednesday.
The Chinese military exercise coincided with a NATO summit in Washington, where a draft communiqué said China had become a supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Beijing continued to pose a systemic challenge to Europe and its security.
Shandong passed close to Philippines en route to Pacific training, Taiwan defense minister said there. In its daily update on China’s military activities over the past 24 hours, released on Thursday morning, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had detected 66 Chinese nationals. military aircraft around the island.
Of those, 39 passed through southern and southeastern Taiwan, the ministry said. On Wednesday, the ministry said it had detected 36 aircraft heading to the Western Pacific to conduct exercises with Shandong.
Taiwan’s defense ministry released two images, a black-and-white image of a Chinese J-16 fighter jet and a color image of a nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, which it said were taken recently but did not say exactly where or when.
“The military has a detailed understanding of activities in the seas and waters around the Taiwan Strait, including Communist Chinese aircraft and ships,” ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said in a statement.
Taiwanese forces have tracked down two Chinese warplanes that were photographed, he said.
China’s defense ministry has not responded to requests for comment on Shandong’s activities.
Speaking to military officers in Taipei, President Lai Ching-te said he would continue to strengthen the island’s defenses.
“Communist China’s threat to regional stability continues to rise, and its gray zone intrusion into the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas is also increasing day by day, which is a common challenge to global democracy,” he said, according to a statement from his office.
Taiwan says China is using “gray zone” tactics that stop actual fighting to try and pressure Taiwanese forces, including regular coast guard patrols near the Taiwanese-held island of Kinmen that is within China’s sights.
Taiwan has previously reported Shandong operating near the island, including in December, when it crossed the Taiwan Strait just weeks before Taiwan’s election, although experts say China is still far from controlling the carrier’s operations.
Taiwan, which China considers its own territory, has complained about repeated Chinese military activity over the past four years as Beijing seeks to pressure the democratically-ruled island, which rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
A spokesman for China’s mission to the European Union said that the draft declaration of the NATO summit was full of “war rhetoric”, and that the content related to China contained provocations, “lies, incitement, and smears.”
Ahead of the summit, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters that it “welcomes NATO’s continued increase in attention to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region in the new year, and actively strengthens exchanges and interactions with countries in the Indo-Pacific region”.
Taiwan is not the only hot spot for security issues involving China and Russia in the region. Japan’s self-defense forces said in a statement that they had tracked two Russian frigates on Wednesday passing between two islands at the western end of the Okinawa chain near Taiwan, heading southwest into the Pacific Ocean.
China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the disputed South China Sea, and their meetings have become increasingly tense as Beijing asserts its claim to Manila’s exclusive economic zone. US allies Australia and Japan are also increasing their military activities.
The Philippine Air Force arrived in northern Australia on Wednesday in its first overseas deployment in six decades for joint combat training with US and Australian fighter jets.
A Japanese navy destroyer also entered Chinese territorial waters near Taiwan this month without notifying China, prompting “serious concern” from Beijing, Japanese media reported on Wednesday.