Beijing has by far sent 114 Chinese military aircraft and 65 naval ships around Taiwan….reports Asian Lite News
Taiwan detected six Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels around the nation between 6 am on January 14) and 6 am on January 15, Taiwan News reported on Monday citing the country’s Ministry of National Defence (MND).
According to the MND, one BZK-005 reconnaissance drone from the six People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and reached the southwest corner of the nation’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
Taiwan responded by monitoring the PLA operations with planes, naval boats, and air defence missile systems.
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Meanwhile, at 1:47 pm on Sunday, a single Chinese balloon was seen crossing the Taiwan Strait median line 294 kilometres (159 miles) southwest of Keelung, Taiwan News reported.
The balloon later disappeared at 4:38 pm on Sunday after travelling northeast.
Beijing has by far sent 114 Chinese military aircraft and 65 naval ships around Taiwan.
Moreover, China has been using grey zone tactics more frequently since September 2020, gradually expanding the number of military planes and navy vessels in the Taiwan area.
Notably, gray zone tactics are defined as “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force.”
Meanwhile, in its first official reaction to the Presidential elections in neighbouring Taiwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reiterated its claim on the breakaway territory as part of its own, saying that any changes in the island nation would not change the status of Taiwan as ‘part of China,’ CNN reported on Saturday.
The report quoted the spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that no matter “whatever changes take place in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, will not change.”
“The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We believe that the international community will continue to adhere to the one-China principle and understand and support the Chinese people’s just cause of opposing ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities and striving to achieve national reunification,” the spokesperson added.
Earlier, CNN quoted a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office as insisting that the election result “does not represent the mainstream view on the island”.
Earlier, before the presidential elections in Taiwan, President Xi Jinping, in his year-end address, asserted that Taiwan will be reunified with China, Fox News reported.
As tensions between Beijing and Taipei remain high, Xi has repeatedly affirmed China’s stance that the island-nation is a part of mainland China and that it must be reunified, by force if necessary.
“All Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Xi said in Sunday’s address.
“The motherland will surely be reunified,” he added. (ANI)
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