Taiwan’s Defense Ministry detected 22 Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels around the self-ruling island on Aug. 25, just two days after the United States approved a possible arms sale to Taiwan.
The ministry said it spotted the warplanes—including fighters, bombers, and drones—at about 7 a.m. local time, and that 13 of the craft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
The Chinese aircraft were conducting joint combat patrol with naval vessels near Taiwan, prompting Taiwan’s military to deploy aircraft and ships to monitor their activities, it added.
Beijing has strongly opposed the move and urged Washington to “immediately cancel” the arms sale. China’s Foreign Ministry warned the United States against “following the dangerous trajectory of arming Taiwan.”
“China will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wang Wenbin, a Chinese ministry spokesperson, told reporters on Aug. 24.
The Taiwanese government stated that the new equipment would be used for its latest F-16V aircraft and improve the island’s ability to detect and track long-range targets.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a one-party state, views Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland by any means necessary, even though Taiwan has never been ruled by the CCP and has its own democratic government.
‘Stern Warning’
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had previously launched military drills around Taiwan on Aug. 19, which came in response to Taiwanese Vice President William Lai Ching-te’s stopovers in the United States.
Mr. Lai, the front-runner in Taiwan’s presidential elections, made stopovers in New York and San Francisco during his trip to Paraguay—Taiwan’s last diplomatic ally in South America—where he attended the president’s inauguration.
His trip had infuriated the CCP, which called the Taiwanese politician “a troublemaker” and voiced its strong opposition to “any form of official interaction between the U.S. and the Taiwan region.”
After Mr. Lai returned from his trip, the PLA sent 42 warplanes and eight naval vessels toward Taiwan as a “stern warning” to separatist forces on the island. Taiwan’s military said that 26 aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry later criticized China for its “irrational and provocative behavior” and said that it would dispatch appropriate forces to respond to the situation.
“Launching a military exercise under pretext this time not only does not help the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait but also highlights its militaristic mentality and confirms the hegemonic nature of military expansion,” the defense ministry stated.
A top U.S. official has said that such stopovers by Taiwanese officials are routine, that they’ve happened many times previously, and that there’s no reason for “provocative” responses by the regime in Beijing.
“Given the really long distances that people are traveling, these transits really are a way to sort of provide for safety, comfort, convenience and dignity of the traveler,” Sandra Oudkirk, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, told reporters in July.
