Taipei.- Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense announced this Friday the detection of 26 Chinese military aircraft and five ships in the last 24 hours near its territory.
According to the statement issued by the Taiwanese Army, 17 of the detected aircraft “entered the north and center of the air defense identification zone” of the island.
The shipment of these aircraft comes weeks before the inauguration, on May 20, of Taiwan’s elected president, Lai Ching-te, described by China as a dangerous separatist.
The Beijing regime claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not given up using force to take control of the island.
In recent years, China has increased military, economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, coinciding with the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects Beijing’s sovereignty over the island territory.
His vice president Lai won the January presidential election despite warnings from Beijing that he would bring “war and decline” to Taiwan.
China’s main intelligence agency has vowed to fight Taiwan independence and extend support for the territory’s “peaceful reunification” ahead of Lai Ching-te’s inauguration.
The Minister of State Security of the Beijing regime, Chen Yixin, has indicated that Chinese Intelligence is joining forces to “resolutely combat any form of Taiwanese independence movement”, which is why it hopes to counteract the interference of foreign forces and punish Taiwanese spies who act in favor of independence.”
“We must make every effort to promote reunification, strengthen the power of the patriotic forces favorable to it and expand public opinion support in favor of peaceful reunification,” he stated according to statements reported by the South China Morning Post newspaper.
Taiwan, for its part, is closely monitoring China’s military activities ahead of the inauguration of the president-elect, said the director general of the National Security Bureau, Tsai Ming-yen.
After a parliamentary appearance, the head of the intelligence agency mentioned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will carry out its routine maneuvers between June and November, just after Lai Ching-te takes office as president.
“The National Security Bureau is studying whether the Chinese Communist Party will use this takeover as an excuse to carry out military maneuvers with the aim of increasing its pressure on Taiwan,” he said.
Speaking before lawmakers, Tsai said that intelligence officials are paying special attention to possible changes in the size and format of PLA exercises.
A new trend is the conduct of “night patrols” in preparation for combat: recently, the Chinese Army carried out three night exercises with landing ships, minesweepers and tankers, which is something new until now, Tsai said.
Consequently, the Taiwanese Armed Forces have adopted “countermeasures” to respond to these maneuvers, the official indicated.
China has stepped up pressure on Taiwan with various measures, including increasing Coast Guard patrols around the Kinmen Islands and modifying several air routes through the strait.
These tactics have been complemented, in recent days, with other announcements, such as the partial resumption of tourism between China and Taiwan or the opening to the import of grapefruits and other agricultural and fishing products from the island.
Last week, Lai reiterated his offer of dialogue to China without preconditions, but Beijing authorities maintain that any official interaction between the two sides must be done on the basis of “one China” in the world.
(With information from EFE, AFP and Europa Press- Infobae)
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2024-05-06 05:18:39