The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense denounced on Monday the presence of 71 Chinese aircraft in the vicinity of the island, in an unprecedented air deployment around Taiwan.
Among them, 47 People’s Liberation Army (Chinese Army) airplanes, most of which were fighter jets, flew through the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
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In practice, the Taiwan Strait is an unofficial border that has been tacitly respected by Taipei and Beijing in recent decades, but has been constantly crossed in recent months by Chinese forces during military exercises.
The expeditions, which also included the incursion of seven Chinese military shipsoccurred between Sunday and Monday, setting a record for the number of aircraft that participated in a period of 24 hours.
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According to Taipei, the island’s air forces monitored the situation with naval and combat air patrols and ground-based missile systems to scare off Chinese planes from the Taiwanese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is not defined by any international treaty and is not equivalent to its airspace.
Grateful to the members of #Taiwan‘s armed forces for all they do to defend our nation. This Christmas, we reaffirm our commitment to providing them with the living & training environment they need to be the best they can be. pic.twitter.com/xF59AmbQHY
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) December 23, 2022
Taiwan president calls for unity
The president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, declared this Monday during an act with the military that “the more united the Taiwanese are, the safer they will be”, while assuring that she will continue working to “defend democracy, freedom and security ” of the island.
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Tsai called a high-level security meeting for Tuesday morning to “strengthen the defense system” of the island, the territory’s Presidency office explained.
The island population remained calm in the face of the incursion of Chinese planes into the ADIZ, as has been the case in the last two years, a period in which the frequency of Chinese raids have increased to such an extent that they have become an almost routine occurrence. for the Taiwanese, whose authorities began reporting such shipments in 2009.
A ‘firm response’, according to the Chinese government
For its part, the Chinese Ministry of Defense notified this Monday of the celebration this Sunday of “bombing practices” and “alert patrols” in “sea and air zones around the island of Taiwan”, without specifying whether it was referring to the Movements detected by Taipei forces.
The Chinese military portfolio warned that his troops “will take any measure necessary to protect the national sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the Asian country.
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Chinese Army Eastern Theater of Operations spokesman Shi Yi described Beijing’s actions as “a strong response to the recent increase in collusion between Taiwan and the United States.”
Disregarding China’s sovereignty over Taiwan is the first red line that should not be crossed
Beijing thus responded to the approval last Friday by the United States Congress of the so-called National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
This law provides for spending of $858 billion on defense, energy, and national security, which includes military aid to Taiwan.
The NDAA authorizes defense assistance to the island worth 10,000 million dollarssomething that “seriously endangers peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” warned the Chinese Ministry of Defense last Saturday, which accused Washington of “emptying the one-China principle of content.”
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The visit to the territory last August by the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, deeply irritated the Chinese government.
The Asian giant responded with economic sanctions and with the announcement of military maneuvers in the waters surrounding Taiwan.
The moves by China were described by Taipei as “a blockade” and They brought the tension in the Strait to unprecedented levels in decades.
The presidents of both superpowers, Joe Biden and Xi jimping have reiterated their differences over Taiwan.
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Xi warned Biden that Taiwan, whose sovereignty China claims, is “the first red line that must not be crossed” and assured that he hopes the US will “honor its promise” not to support eventual independence for the island. .
For his part, Biden informed Xi that his policy towards the island has not changed and that he continues to oppose any “unilateral change” in the “status quo”.
EFE
#tensions #growing #China #Taiwan