More than a dozen Chinese military aircraft and four warships were detected around Taiwan on Friday morning, defense officials said.
Raids by Chinese fighter jets have become an almost daily occurrence in recent months, but Friday’s show of aggression comes ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit.
FILE PHOTO: Chinese military helicopters fly over Pingtan Island, one of mainland China’s closest points to Taiwan, in Fujian province.
(HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
A high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon was also spotted in the skies over Montana on Thursday, prompting some senators to ask Blinken to cancel his trip.
THE US GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING A SUSPICIOUS CHINESE SPY BALLOON OVER THE NORTHERN STATES
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., requested a full security briefing from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the balloon, saying the Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fields of the United States could be the targets of the intelligence operation.
A balloon flies in the sky above Billings, Montana, USA, February 1, 2023, in this image obtained from social media.
(Chase Doak/via REUTERS)
Austin, who was visiting Camp Navarro in the Philippines when the news broke, called a meeting with senior Defense Department leaders and decided not to take military action because of the “risk to the safety of people on the ground from the possible field of debris”. ”, according to a senior defense official.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s military activated aircraft, warships and ground-based missile systems on Friday morning to monitor China’s incursion.
FILE PHOTO: Taiwan’s military forces conduct anti-landing exercises during the annual Han Kuang military exercises near New Taipei City in Taiwan on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.
(Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP, File)
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Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s envoy to the United States, said last month that the island has learned important lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“All we are doing now is preventing the pain and suffering of the Ukraine tragedy from being repeated on our stage in Taiwan,” he told the Associated Press. “So ultimately we seek to deter the use of military force. But in the worst case, we understand that we have to be better prepared.”
Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
