TAIPEI: Taiwan said Thursday it detected 16 Chinese warships in waters around the island, one of the highest numbers this year, as Beijing intensifies military pressure on Taipei.
\nThe navy vessels, along with 34 Chinese aircraft, were spotted near Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6:00 a.m. Thursday, according to the defense ministry\u2019s daily tally.
\nBeijing has been holding its biggest maritime drills in years from near the southern islands of Japan to the South China Sea, Taiwan authorities said this week.
\nAround 90 Chinese warships and coast guard vessels have been involved in the exercises that include simulating attacks on foreign ships and practicing blockading sea routes, a Taiwan security official said Wednesday.
\nThere has been no announcement by Beijing\u2019s army or Chinese state media about increased military activity in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea or Western Pacific Ocean.
\nHowever, a recent Pacific tour by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te that included two stops in US territory drew fury from Beijing, which claims the democratic island as part of China\u2019s territory.
\nThe security official said that China began planning the massive maritime operation in October and aimed to demonstrate it could choke off Taiwan and draw a \u201cred line\u201d ahead of the next US administration.
\nThe sea drills were \u201csignificantly larger\u201d than Beijing\u2019s maritime response to then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi\u2019s visit to Taipei in 2022, the security official said. Those war games were China\u2019s largest-ever around Taiwan.
\nTaiwan\u2019s foreign ministry said Wednesday that China\u2019s increased military activity around the island was evidence that Beijing was a \u201ctroublemaker.\u201d
\nBut China\u2019s foreign ministry \u2013 whose spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied that drills were taking place \u2013 directed blame at Taiwan.
\nJames Char, an expert on China\u2019s military at Singapore\u2019s Nanyang Technological University, said Beijing\u2019s silence \u201cserves as a way of demonstrating that the Taiwan Strait as well as the waters and airspace around the island falls under Chinese sovereignty \u2013 hence unnecessary to announce (the drills) to the world.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is another means by the mainland to force its position upon others,\u201d Char said, though he did not rule out Chinese confirmation at a later date.
\nTaiwan said Monday that Beijing\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) had reserved airspace off the Chinese coast until Wednesday.
\nVietnam-based maritime security analyst Duan Dang said Thursday that aviation data showed the airspace zones had \u201cfully returned to normal.\u201d
\nTaiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.
\nBeijing has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around the island in recent years, and also opposes any international recognition of self-ruled Taiwan \u2013 especially when it comes to official contact between Taipei and Washington.
\nLai spoke last week with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson in addition to his two recent stopovers on US soil.
\nThe defense ministry\u2019s tally of Chinese warships on Thursday was the highest since May 25, when 27 navy vessels were detected during Chinese military drills held days after Lai\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TAIPEI: Taiwan said Thursday it detected 16 Chinese warships in waters around the island, one of the highest numbers this year, as Beijing intensifies military pressure on Taipei. The navy vessels, along with 34 Chinese aircraft, were spotted near Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6:00 a.m. Thursday, according to the defense ministry\u2019s daily tally. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-448904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n