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Dozens of Chinese military aircraft and ships were detected in Taiwan’s waters and air. Photo/Illustration/Sindonews
TAIPEI – Ministry of Defense Taiwan said 34 military aircraft and nine naval vessels China detected near the island nation at around 3 a.m.
“The Armed Forces have monitored the situation and assigned CAP aircraft, Navy ships and ground missile systems to respond to this activity,” the ministry tweeted as quoted by Fox News, Wednesday (1/2/2023).
Twenty of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone).
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Attacks by the Chinese military occur almost daily. Beijing continues to fly military aircraft near Taiwan in an effort to re-enforce its stance that the island is part of China.
In late December, China set a record by sending 71 planes and seven ships to Taiwan — its largest-scale military exercise in 2022.
The exercise was likely in response to the Biden administration’s announcement of an additional $425 million in weapons for Taiwan’s defense, made weeks earlier. The sale won bipartisan praise, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pushed the Biden administration for more Taiwan aid.
Read: Congressional officials: US chances of war with China in 2025 are very high
While officially adhering to a “one China” policy, which does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty, the United States (US) has consistently supported Taiwan both economically and militarily as a bulwark of democracy against authoritarian China.
China claims Taiwan – a self-governing democratic island nation off China’s coast – has an illegitimate government and that China has legal control over the island.
As Chinese President Xi Jinping expands his grip on China, fears are growing that he will seek to control Taiwan in the coming years, through economic, military or other means.
Read: US Senior General Warns of Possibility of War with China
(ian)
