Four Chinese military planes and several ships were detected near Taiwan early Monday morning in the latest provocation by Beijing against the island nation.
Taiwan’s Dense Ministry said four warships from the People’s Liberation Army and three from the People’s Liberation Army were detected around Taiwan around 6 a.m. Monday morning.
Taiwan’s Armed Forces have monitored the situation and assigned CAP aircraft, Navy ships and ground-based missile systems to respond to these activities, the Defense Ministry said.
It added that two of the detected aircraft, described as J-16 jets, had entered the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone.
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Monday’s provocation marked just the latest installment in what has been a daily occurrence for the self-governing island, which Beijing considers its own territory.
On Wednesday, China renewed its threats to attack Taiwan, warning that foreign politicians who interact with the autonomous island are “playing with fire.”
A spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the country recommitted in the new year to “safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “destroying plots for Taiwan independence” in the self-governing democracy that broke away from Mainland China in 1949.
“The malicious support for Taiwanese independence among anti-China elements in some foreign countries is a deliberate provocation,” Ma Xiaoguang told a biweekly press conference.
A series of visits in recent months by foreign politicians to Taiwan, including then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and numerous European Union politicians, spurred displays of military might by both sides.
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This week, Taiwan’s military held drills aimed at reassuring the public about its ability to counter threats from China ahead of this month’s Lunar New Year holiday.
“The most important thing is to maintain the safety of our airspace and national security,” Air Force Lt. Col. Wu Bong-yeng told reporters at the Hsinchu airbase, just south of the capital Taipei.
China has responded to foreign visits by holding large-scale military exercises that some see as a rehearsal for a blockade or invasion. Beijing sends planes and warships toward Taiwan almost daily, often crossing the 100-mile median line of the Taiwan Strait that divides the sides.
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In late December, China sent a record 71 aircraft and seven ships to Taiwan, the largest-scale exercise of its kind in 2022.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
