TAIPEI. Taiwan announced on Thursday that it is closely monitoring the Chinese military, which it identified as a growing regional threat, following a surge of warplanes near the island participating in drills with China’s Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
These Chinese military exercises coincide with a NATO summit in Washington, where a draft communique indicated that China has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and continues to pose systemic challenges to Europe and global security.
Taiwan’s defense minister reported on Wednesday that the Shandong passed close to the Philippines on its way to the Pacific exercises.
In its daily update on Chinese military activity over the past 24 hours, released Thursday morning, Taiwan’s defense ministry stated it detected 66 Chinese military aircraft around the island. Of these, 39 passed to the south and southeast of Taiwan. On Wednesday, the ministry reported detecting 36 aircraft heading to the Western Pacific to conduct drills with the Shandong.
Taiwan’s defense ministry released two images: a grainy black-and-white photo of a Chinese J-16 fighter and a color image of a nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, which it said were taken recently, though the exact time and location were not specified.
“The military has a detailed grasp of the activities in the seas and waters around the Taiwan Strait, including the Chinese Communists’ aircraft and ships,” stated ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang. He added that Taiwan’s forces had tracked the two Chinese warplanes photographed.
China’s defense ministry has not responded to requests for comment on the Shandong’s activities.
Addressing military officers in Taipei, President Lai Ching-te emphasized his commitment to strengthening the island’s defenses. “The Chinese Communists’ threat to regional stability continues to rise, and its grey zone intrusions into the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas are also increasing day by day, which are a common challenge to global democracy,” he stated, according to an office statement.
Taiwan claims China has been employing “grey zone” tactics, which stop short of actual combat to test and pressure Taiwanese forces, including regular coast guard patrols near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands within view of China.
Previously, Taiwan reported the Shandong operating near the island, including in December when it passed through the Taiwan Strait weeks before Taiwanese elections. Experts suggest China is still far from mastering carrier operations.
China views Taiwan as its own territory and has intensified military activities over the past four years to pressure the democratically governed island, which rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
A spokesperson for the Chinese mission to the European Union criticized the NATO summit’s draft declaration as “full of belligerent rhetoric,” and claimed the China-related content contained provocations, “lies, incitement and smears.”
Ahead of the summit, Taiwan’s foreign ministry told Reuters it “welcomes NATO’s continuous increase in attention to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years, and its active strengthening of exchanges and interactions with countries in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Taiwan is not the only security hotspot involving China and Russia in the region. Japan’s Self-Defense Forces reported tracking two Russian frigates on Wednesday passing between two of its islands at the western end of its Okinawa chain close to Taiwan, heading southwest toward the Pacific Ocean.
China and the Philippines are also locked in a confrontation in the disputed South China Sea, with tensions rising as Beijing presses its claims to shoals within Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
U.S. allies Australia and Japan have been increasing their military activities. The Philippine Air Force arrived in northern Australia on Wednesday for its first overseas deployment in six decades, practicing combat alongside U.S. and Australian fighter jets.
Additionally, a Japanese navy destroyer made a rare entry into China’s territorial waters near Taiwan this month without notifying China, sparking “serious concerns” from Beijing, according to Japanese media reports.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
