The Ministry of National Defense of Taiw will inform this Thursday that they detected, In just 24 hours, 45 Chinese military airplanes near their territory. It is a record so far this year and is given two days after an investigation began by the appearance of a ship with eight Chinese crew very close to the island, suspected of cutting an underwater communications cable.
Between 6 in the morning on Wednesday and the same time on Thursday, Taiwanese defenses detected 45 aircraft and 14 ships of the Chinese army near the island, according to the ministry. China’s airplanes were making military maneuvers “With real fire” To the south of the territory of Taiwan, so the island’s government decided to mobilize its land, naval and aerial forces.
According to the Ministry, 22 of these aircraft crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, entered the North and Southwest of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) Taiwanese. The types of aircraft they found They were J-11 fighters, KJ-500 early alert planes, drones and other combat aircraftwhich made a “joint patrol of preparation for combat.”
The reasons for this intense circulation have to do with China claims this territory with government, army, and its own currency, and does not rule out using force with this type of operations to take control. In a nutshell, China claims that Taiwan belongs to him.
The MDN explained that China made a presence in the area without any notice, about 74 kilometers from the south of the island, and that its argument was that it was a shot training.
“That action not only represents a high risk for the security of international air and maritime navigation, but also constitutes an open provocation against regional peace and stability,” said the MDN in a statement.
In recent years, China has increased military pressure on Taiwan through the sending of airplanes and ships regularly, and the organization of large maneuvers around it. Only this Tuesday he found a ship with eight Chinese crew in Taiwanese waters, near where a telecommunications cable of the Chunghwa Telecom company had broken.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not make any comments on the subject. The one who gave statements was Wang Huning, who has a high position in the Communist Party, and told the official press agency Xinhua that Beijing “must firmly support the patriotic forces of unification on the island and shape the inevitable unification of the homeland.”
Amid the tensions between the two countries, the United States has been the main backup ally and provider of weapons in Taiwan. However, the Taipéi authorities fear that Donald Trump will disregard the island if an attack or attempt to invasion from China.
On Wednesday they asked Trump if he would prevent Beijing from taking control of the island, but his only answer was that “never” talked about that.
The arrest of a ship with eight Chinese crew members
This Tuesday, Taiwan detected a Togolés ship with eight Chinese crew, suspected of cutting a communications cable of the largest company in the country, Chunghwa Telecom. This cable connects the main island with Pescadores Island (Penghu), but had no impact because the company activated a backup cable.
What worries the authorities is the Chinese presence in Taiwanese waters. The ship was a Hongtai freighter that was in the same area since Saturday, and that had not responded to any signal sent by the Amping port authorities, which had caught their attention that did not move from place.
“The cause of the submarine cable cut, either by intentional sabotage or simply an accident, is still pending an additional investigation for clarification,” the Coast Guard issued in a statement.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also did not pronounce in this regard, he said that he had no knowledge of the fact and that this event was not related to the diplomacy of both countries.