China mobilized “military aircraft this morning and crossed the median line from the north, center and south”, the Defense Ministry reported, adding that the vessels were detected around 11:00 a.m. local time (0300 GMT).
China engages in exercise to encircle island
Beijing launched Saturday military exercises, dubbed “Joint Sword”, around Taiwan for a period of three days, during which simulations of targeted strikes and an exercise in encirclement of the autonomous island took place. China regards Taiwan as a province that it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It aims for this reunification by force if necessary.
This show of force came after the meeting Wednesday in California between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the speaker of the American House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, to which Beijing had promised to react.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it detected 12 warships and 91 aircraft on the last day of the operation on Monday, and 54 of the aircraft crossed the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday condemned the military exercises, hours after their official completion, saying China was using relations between Taipei and Washington as an “excuse to launch military exercises, creating instability in Taiwan and the region”. “Although China’s military exercise has ended, our military and national security team will continue to stand by and defend the country,” Tsai said in a Facebook post.
At the end of “Joint Sword”, the Chinese army declared that it had “successfully completed” its military maneuvers. An American destroyer meanwhile carried out a “freedom of navigation operation” on Monday in an area of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. An “intrusion” immediately denounced by China.