Senior ministry intelligence officer Hsieh Jih-sheng told the same press conference there have so far been no live fire drills in China's seven "reserved" air space zones, two of which are in the Taiwan Strait, but there had been a significant increase in Chinese activity to the north of Taiwan over the last day
Taiwanese forces were on high alert in anticipation of Beijing's People's Liberation Army staging war games in response to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's visits to the United States last week.
- "Nearly 90" Chinese naval and coast guard ships were currently in waters along the so-called first island chain, which links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, a senior Taiwanese security official told AFP.
- Taiwan's defence ministry said earlier it had also detected 47 Chinese aircraft near the island in the 24 hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT).
- That was the highest number of aircraft detected in a single day since a record 153 reported on October 15,That was the highest number after China staged major military drills in response to Lai's National Day speech days earlier.
China has staged four large-scale military exercises in just over two years, including the drills in response to Pelosi's visit and two since Lai took office in May.
"It can indeed be said that the scale of these maritime forces exceeds the four drills since 2022," Sun told reporters.
"The primary military forces used to coerce Taiwan in the past primarily came from the Eastern Theater Command. However, what I am referring to now includes not only the Eastern Theater Command but also forces from the Northern and Southern Theater Commands."
However, a Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman said Monday that China would "firmly defend" its sovereignty, as Taiwan kicked off its drills.
Beijing insists the island is part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.
Austin vows support
The escalating actions – over islands in the East China Sea claimed by Japan, the self-ruled territory of Taiwan, and reefs and islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by Southeast Asian nations – have come as Beijing's rivals have drawn closer to the United States.
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"And so, you know, we want to see this region, this area remain open to freedom of navigation and the ability to fly the skies and international airways whenever we want to," Austin said, in a speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which is stationed off Yokosuka south of Tokyo.
"We're going to continue to work with our allies and partners to ensure that we can do just that."
The United States is Taiwan's most important backer and biggest supplier of arms, but has long maintained "strategic ambiguity" when it comes to putting boots on the ground to defend the island.
China's foreign ministry warned Taiwan on Friday that "seeking independence with the help of the United States will inevitably hit a wall", and called on Washington to "cease meddling in Taiwan-related affairs".
(AFP)
Taiwan places military on high alert
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday
The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday.
Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week.
Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it has yet to formally announce any planned military drills.
An image of the seven areas designated by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as “reserved airspace zones” until tomorrow is shown in an illustration via Google Maps.
Illustration: Taipei Times
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to answer when asked about launching military drills in response to Lai’s overseas trip, with spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) simply reiterating the importance of Chinese sovereignty and maintaining Chinese territorial integrity.
While the previous two exercises focused on drills by the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said its intelligence had identified naval formations not only in the Eastern Theater Command, but also in the Northern and Southern Theater Commands.
The ministry added that it had detected China Coast Guard vessels entering areas around the Taiwan Strait and Western Pacific.
A handout photograph taken between Saturday and Sunday and released yesterday by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) shows a China Coast Guard ship, center, and CGA vessels, left and right, in waters east of Taiwan.
Photo: AFP / CGA
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning joined the second Joint Sword military exercise in October. Whether the carrier would join a third one remains to be seen.
Another difference about the anticipated drills is the area covered by the seven reserved airspace zones, which range from Shanghai in the north and Shantou in the south, with two of the zones close to Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties.
The defense ministry said that it has initiated combat-readiness drills at strategic locations nationwide and was working closely with the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on appropriate countermeasures.
The CGA said it has detected “unusual activities” by several Chinese coast guard vessels in waters around Taiwan since Friday, including three last week and four yesterday.
Last week, the China Coast Guard ship No. 2901 navigated through waters south of the Taiwan Strait, while No. 1301 and No. 1302 ships navigated southward via waters off Taiwan’s northeast coast, the CGA said.
All three eventually gathered at about 50 to 60 nautical miles (93 km to 111km) off the northeast coast of Green Island on Taiwan’s east coast.
Yesterday, China Coast Guard vessels 2203, 2302, 2304 and 2307 navigated toward waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, the CGA said.
None of them entered Taiwan’s restricted waters, it added.
Using a one-on-one approach, the CGA also dispatched seven ships to closely monitor the whereabouts of the China Coast Guard ships, it said.
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