China Revolts US Island Support By Sending 71 Planes, Ships to Taiwan
The China military has launched its largest daily incursion yet towards Taiwan with 71 planes and 7 ships as Beijing protests “collusion and provocation” by the self-governing island and the US.
The Taiwanese defense ministry claimed in a statement that during the 24-hour show of force, 47 Chinese aircraft violated the Taiwan Strait’s median line, an unofficial line that was formerly implicitly acknowledged by all sides.
According to Aljazeera, the defence ministry also said that it kept an eye on Chinese movements using both its own navy vessels and land-based missile systems.
China, which asserts territorial claims over Taiwan, declared on Sunday that it had carried out “joint combat readiness patrols and combined firepower strike drills” in the sea and the airspace surrounding the self-governing island.
The exercises, according to the People’s Liberation Army, were “a resolute response to the ongoing US-Taiwan escalation and provocation.”
Beijing has been incensed by Taiwan-related clauses in a recently adopted US defense budget bill, although it did not identify the specifics of the purported provocations.
There were 18 J-16 fighter airplanes, 11 J-1 fighters, six Su-30 fighters, and drones among the Chinese aircraft.
The $858 billion bill, signed by US President Joe Biden on Friday, calls for enhanced coordination with India on cutting-edge defense technologies, readiness, and logistics. It also authorizes stronger security cooperation with Taiwan.
The 23 million-person island off China‘s east coast that split from the mainland during the civil war that propelled the Communist Party to power in Beijing in 1949 is being supported by the US, which China opposes. Despite not having formal diplomatic ties, the US is Taiwan‘s main overseas ally and arms supplier.
At a military ceremony on Monday morning, Taiwan‘s president, Tsai Ing-wen, reaffirmed the necessity for Taiwan to strengthen its defense capabilities due to “the ongoing spread of authoritarianism,” albeit she omitted mentioning the most recent military activity.
Rapid attempts at aggressiveness are less likely to occur the more preparations we undertake. Taiwan would become stronger and safer the more united we are, Tsai told the gathered police.
Beijing’s relations with Washington are constantly strained by US arms shipments to Taiwan.
The US defense bill “seriously undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan strait,” according to the Chinese foreign ministry, which “deplores and firmly opposes” defense cooperation between the US and Taiwan.
Large-scale military drills have frequently been utilized by China‘s armed forces as a show of strength in retaliation to US government support for Taiwan.
In reaction to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s visit to Taiwan in August, it carried out significant live-fire military drills.
Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to subjugate Taiwan, sees foreign delegations as a challenge to China’s claim of sovereignty and a de facto acceptance of the island’s independence.
Taiwan vehemently denies China’s claims to sovereignty, arguing that only its citizens have the power to determine their own future.
