Beijing has increased military and political pressure on the island in recent years as ties have deteriorated. Beijing sees Taiwan as its own territory that will one day be annexed.
China reportedly sent 68 airplanes and 10 military boats into the areas surrounding the self-governing island on Thursday, September 14. Beijing has increased military and political pressure on the island in recent years as ties have deteriorated. Beijing sees Taiwan as its own territory that will one day be annexe. According to a statement from Taiwan’s defense ministry. “68 PLA aircraft and 10 PLAN vessels around Taiwan are detect” between Wednesday and Thursday morning. The figure is a sharp increase from the previous day. When Taipei reported that 35 airplanes have been spot flying over the island.
Some of the aircraft and warships spotted on Wednesday, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry. Were en route to an unidentified region. Of the Western Pacific to “conduct joint sea and using the aircraft carrier Shandong for aerial training. The Shandong is one of the two active aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet. The Shandong carrier was spot, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry. Some 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) southeast of the island’s southernmost point and moving for the Western Pacific.
The Fujian, Beijing’s third and largest carrier, is launch last year, but the date of its service start has not yet been announce by the government. China have not made any formal remarks regarding any drills taking place in the Western Pacific. However, the nation’s Eastern Theatre Command, which plans drills near Taiwan, reported on Wednesday that a “aviation unit” had just conducted training across a distance of “thousands of kilometers.” Taiwan was not mentioned.
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“Permanent high alert”
China declared last week that its military were “on constant high alert” after two ships from the United States and Canada passed through the Taiwan Strait. The passage “demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to the US Navy, which identified the ships as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and HMCS Ottawa. Beijing is upset that the United States and its allies in the West have boosted “freedom of navigation” crossings of the Taiwan Strait and the contentious South China Sea to emphasize that both are international waterways. After President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California in April, China conducted military drills to mimic the encirclement of Taiwan.