[🇨🇳] China-Taiwan Feud

[Saif]

US, Canada warships pass through Taiwan Strait

A US and a Canadian warship have passed through waters separating Taiwan and China, a week after Beijing held large-scale military drills in the sensitive passage.

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US, Canada warships pass through Taiwan Strait
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 21 October, 2024, 22:08

A US and a Canadian warship have passed through waters separating Taiwan and China, a week after Beijing held large-scale military drills in the sensitive passage.

The United States and its allies regularly cross through the 180-kilometre Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, angering Beijing.

China’s Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, but it claims the island as part of its territory and has said it will not renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.

‘The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) and Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on Oct. 20,’ the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement.

‘Higgins and Vancouver’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrated the United States’ and Canada’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle.’

China said Monday that the US and Canadian actions had disrupted ‘peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait’.

‘The PLA Eastern Theater Command organised naval and air forces to monitor and remain on alert throughout the transit, handling the situation according to laws and regulations,’ military spokesperson Captain Li Xi said in a statement.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said Monday the US and Canadian ships travelled ‘from south to north’ of the strait and the situation in the surrounding sea and airspace ‘remained normal’.

Beijing sent a record number of military aircraft as well as warships and coast guard vessels to encircle Taiwan on October 14 in the fourth round of major drills in just over two years.

Taiwan deployed ‘appropriate forces’ and put outlying islands on heightened alert in response to the exercises, which Beijing said were a ‘stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ forces’.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taipei in recent years, deploying on a near-daily basis warplanes and other military aircraft as well as ships around the island.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said Monday it had detected 14 Chinese military aircraft and 12 navy vessels in the 24 hours to 6:00am.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Taiwan said it detected 37 Chinese fighter jets, drones and other aircraft near the self-ruled island on Sunday as Beijing carried out ‘long-distance’ training flights.

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Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 03 November, 2024, 22:25

Taiwan said it detected 37 Chinese fighter jets, drones and other aircraft near the self-ruled island on Sunday as Beijing carried out ‘long-distance’ training flights.

China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years as Beijing pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island.

The Chinese aircraft were spotted from 9:00am (0100 GMT) and 35 of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China and Taiwan, and entered Taiwanese airspace on their way to the Western Pacific Ocean, the defence ministry said.

Taiwan’s military responded by deploying aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems, the ministry said.

The exercise came a day after Taiwan said it had detected a Chinese military ‘joint combat readiness patrol’ around the island involving fighter jets and warships.

Taiwan spotted 27 Chinese aircraft and six warships in the 24 hours to 6:00am on Sunday, the ministry said earlier.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has refused to rule out the use of force to bring the democratic island under its control.

Beijing held large-scale military drills around Taiwan last month, which were condemned by Taipei and its key backer the United States.

The Chinese military conducted long-distance training flights in late September, the ministry said previously, when Beijing also fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.​

 

[Saif]

We have to fight together to prevent war, Taiwan’s Lai says in US

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te said in the United States on Saturday that we have to ‘fight together to prevent war’, as he kicked off a week-long tour of the Pacific that has sparked fiery rhetoric from Beijing.

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We have to fight together to prevent war, Taiwan’s Lai says in US
Agence France-Presse . Honolulu 01 December, 2024, 22:59

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te said in the United States on Saturday that we have to ‘fight together to prevent war’, as he kicked off a week-long tour of the Pacific that has sparked fiery rhetoric from Beijing.

Taiwan faces the constant threat of a military attack by China, which it considers part of its territory and regularly deploys fighter jets and warships around the self-ruled island to press its claims.

Washington is Taipei’s most important partner and biggest provider of weapons, but maintains a ‘strategic ambiguity’ when it comes to putting boots on the ground to defend the island from China.

Speaking at a dinner in the US island state of Hawaii on Saturday, Lai said there were ‘no winners’ from conflict and ‘we have to fight, fight together to prevent war.’

Lai earlier received a standing ovation as he walked down a red carpet for the gathering with US government officials, state politicians, members of Congress, and Taiwanese expatriates.

He said the US flag and Hawaii state flag given to him as a gift ‘symbolise the longstanding friendship between Taiwan and the United States and lays the foundation for further cooperation in the future.’

The chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan, the body that serves as the de facto US embassy, said the partnership between Washington and Taipei was ‘rock solid’.

‘The opportunity for you to engage with thought leaders, the diaspora’s community and state and local leaders is invaluable, and I know will contribute to further strengthening the rock solid US-Taiwan partnership,’ Laura Rosenberger said in a pre-recorded video played at the dinner.

Like most countries, Washington does not recognise Taiwan diplomatically but maintains close unofficial ties.

Beijing opposes any international recognition of Taiwan and its claim to be a sovereign state and especially bristles at official contact between the island and the United States.

In a statement, China’s foreign ministry said it ‘strongly condemns’ the United States for Lai’s stopover and that it had ‘lodged serious protests with the US’.

‘China will closely follow the developments and take resolute and strong measures to defend our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ it said.

Lai, who is travelling abroad for the first time since taking office in May, was welcomed with red carpets, flower garlands and ‘alohas’ as he began the two-day stopover in Hawaii.

Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around, visiting a Pacific island history museum, an emergency management centre and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbour.

On his arrival, he was given the ‘red carpet treatment’ on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, according to his office, which said it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such a welcome.

He was met by Ingrid Larson, managing director in Washington of the AIT, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, and others.

Taiwanese government officials have previously stopped over on US soil during visits to the Pacific or Latin America, angering China, which has sometimes responded with military drills around the island.

After Hawaii, Lai will visit Taiwan’s allies the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — the only Pacific island nations among the 12 countries that recognize Taiwan’s claim to statehood — and stop over for one night in the US territory of Guam.

Lai said shortly before take-off in Taipei that the trip ‘ushered in a new era of values-based democracy’ and thanked the US government for ‘helping to make this trip a smooth one’.

He said he wanted to ‘continue to expand cooperation and deepen partnerships with our allies based on the values of democracy, peace and prosperity.’

‘I once again emphasise that we are all Team Taiwan. We all work together, and we can successfully achieve our goals,’ Lai told reporters on board the plane.

An AFP journalist is travelling with the president for the duration of the trip.

In a swift response to news of Lai’s trip on Thursday, Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China’s defence ministry said: ‘We firmly oppose official interaction with China’s Taiwan region in any form’ and vowed to ‘resolutely crush’ any attempts for Taiwan independence.

Lai’s trip follows the US approval on Friday of a proposed sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16s and radar systems, as well as communications equipment, in deals valued at $385 million in total.

The Taiwan president’s trip comes as Republican US president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in January.

During his campaign, Trump caused jitters by suggesting Taiwan should pay the United States for its defence.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan military on high alert

Taiwan raised its alert level yesterday saying China has set up seven zones of reserved airspace and deployed naval fleets and coast guard boats in what a security source described as the first military drills across a broad swathe of the region’s waters.

www.thedailystar.net

Taiwan military on high alert

China deploys 90 ships in likely drills

Taiwan raised its alert level yesterday saying China has set up seven zones of reserved airspace and deployed naval fleets and coast guard boats in what a security source described as the first military drills across a broad swathe of the region's waters.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters that China currently has nearly 90 navy and coast guard ships in waters near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, of which around two-thirds were navy vessels.

Beijing's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, had been expected to launch another round of exercises in response to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's trip to the Pacific, which included stopovers in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam, security sources had told Reuters.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan says China carrying out huge maritime deployment

China is deploying dozens of ships in its biggest maritime mobilisation around Taiwan in years, Taipei said Tuesday, after Beijing voiced fury at President Lai Ching-te’s recent visit to the United States...

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Taiwan says China carrying out huge maritime deployment
Agence France-Presse . Hsinchu, Taiwan 10 December, 2024, 21:59

Taiwan fighter jets take off as the island is on high alert for China war games. | AFP photo

China is deploying dozens of ships in its biggest maritime mobilisation around Taiwan in years, Taipei said Tuesday, after Beijing voiced fury at President Lai Ching-te’s recent visit to the United States.

Taiwanese forces were on high alert in anticipation of Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army staging war games in response to Lai’s US stopovers and call with Republican House speaker Mike Johnson.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said the number of Chinese ships in the waters around the island exceeded Beijing’s maritime response to then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, which was the largest-ever war games.

In those drills, Beijing deployed ballistic missiles, fighter jets and warships in what analysts described as practice for a blockade and ultimate invasion of Taiwan — and was a display of how far China’s military had come since the last Taiwan Strait crisis in the mid-1990s.

Nearly 90 Chinese naval and coast guard ships were currently in waters along the so-called first island chain, which links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, a senior Taiwanese security official said.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said earlier it had also detected 47 Chinese aircraft near the island in the 24 hours to 6:00am (2200 GMT).

That was the highest number of aircraft detected in a single day since a record 153 reported on October 15, after China staged major military drills in response to Lai’s National Day speech days earlier.

China — which regards Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control — has held four large-scale military exercises in just over two years, including the drills in response to Pelosi’s visit and two since Lai took office in May.

‘It can indeed be said that the scale of these maritime forces exceeds the four drills since 2022,’ defence ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters.

Sun said the latest exercises drew forces from three separate Chinese regional commands, while another defence ministry official said China’s actions were ‘not solely directed at Taiwan’.

There has been no public announcement by the PLA or Chinese state media about increased military activity in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea or Western Pacific Ocean, where Taiwan said Chinese ships had been detected.

However, a Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday that China will ‘resolutely defend’ its sovereignty.

The lack of an announcement from Beijing was unusual and, if drills were under way, could be a ‘deliberate strategy to sow confusion and exert psychological pressure,’ Duan Dang, a Vietnam-based maritime security analyst, said.

‘China’s current movements resemble what we would see during preparations for real combat, exceeding the scale of previous exercises,’ he added.

Taipei-based security analyst J Michael Cole said the mix of PLA navy vessels and coast guard ships highlighted Beijing’s efforts to ‘increase interoperability’ between the two.

‘Such efforts also blur the lines between civilian and military components and thus complicate Taiwan’s ability to respond proportionally,’ Cole said.

Beijing has asserted its claims over contested territories in the region far more boldly in recent years, as its military strength has grown.

The escalating actions — over islands in the East China Sea claimed by Japan, self-ruled Taiwan, and reefs and islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by Southeast Asian nations — have come as Beijing’s rivals have drawn closer to the United States.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday that China was the ‘only country in the world that has the intent and, increasingly, the capability to change the rules-based international order.’

‘We want to see this region, this area remain open to freedom of navigation and the ability to fly the skies and international airways whenever we want to,’ Austin said in a speech aboard the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier stationed in Japan.

‘We’re going to continue to work with our allies and partners to ensure that we can do just that.’

The United States is Taiwan’s most important backer and biggest supplier of arms, but has long maintained ‘strategic ambiguity’ when it comes to putting boots on the ground to defend the island.

Lai said Friday he was ‘confident’ of deeper cooperation with the next Donald Trump administration, a day after he spoke with US Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that angered China.

China’s foreign ministry warned Taiwan on Friday that ‘seeking independence with the help of the United States will inevitably hit a wall’, and called on Washington to ‘cease meddling in Taiwan-related affairs’.

The dispute between Taiwan and China goes back to 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong’s communist fighters and fled to the island.​

 

[Saif]

Taiwan detects 16 Chinese warships around island

Taiwan said on 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.

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Taiwan detects 16 Chinese warships around island
Agence France-Presse . Taipei 12 December, 2024, 23:08

Taiwan said on 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 6:00am (2200 GMT) Thursday, according to the defence ministry’s daily tally.

Beijing 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.

Around 90 Chinese warships and coast guard vessels have been involved in the exercises that include simulating attacks on foreign ships and practising blockading sea routes, a Taiwan security official said Wednesday.

There has been no announcement by Beijing’s army or Chinese state media about increased military activity in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea or Western Pacific Ocean.

However, 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’s territory.

The 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 ‘red line’ ahead of the next US administration.

The sea drills were ‘significantly larger’ than Beijing’s maritime response to then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, the security official said. Those war games were China’s largest-ever around Taiwan.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that China’s increased military activity around the island was evidence that Beijing was a ‘troublemaker’.

But China’s foreign ministry — whose spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied that drills were taking place — directed blame at Taiwan.

The de facto US embassy in Taiwan said Thursday it was monitoring ‘with concern’ Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army activity near the island and in the region.

While Beijing had not announced major drills in response to Lai’s trip, Chinese military activity was ‘elevated’, which was ‘consistent with levels we have seen during other large exercises,’ a spokesperson for the American Institute in Taiwan said.

James Char, an expert on China’s military at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said Beijing’s silence ‘serves as a way of demonstrating that the Taiwan Strait as well as the waters and airspace around the island falls under Chinese sovereignty — hence unnecessary to announce the drills to the world’.

‘This is another means by the mainland to force its position upon others,’ Char said, though he did not rule out Chinese confirmation at a later date.

Taiwan said Monday that the PLA had reserved airspace off the Chinese coast until Wednesday.

Vietnam-based maritime security analyst Duan Dang said Thursday that aviation data showed the airspace zones had ‘fully returned to normal’.

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.

Beijing 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 — especially when it comes to official contact between Taipei and Washington.

Lai spoke last week with Republican House speaker Mike Johnson in addition to his two recent stopovers on US soil.

The defence ministry’s 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’s inauguration.​

 

[Saif]

Any drills around Taiwan ‘decided by us alone’

China’s defence ministry said yesterday that any drills it may hold around Taiwan “are decided by us alone”, as Taipei announced the apparent end of massive military exercises not formally declared by Beijing.

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Any drills around Taiwan ‘decided by us alone’
Says China’s defence ministry

China's defence ministry said yesterday that any drills it may hold around Taiwan "are decided by us alone", as Taipei announced the apparent end of massive military exercises not formally declared by Beijing.

Taiwanese authorities said this week that Beijing was holding its biggest maritime drills in years, deploying dozens of warships and coast guard vessels in an area stretching from near the southern islands of Japan to the South China Sea.

Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy director general of Taiwan's coast guard, said yesterday that the ships had returned to China, adding that Taipei considered the manoeuvres to be "over".

Asked about the alleged drills yesterday, Wu Qian, a spokesman for Beijing's defence ministry, did not confirm whether they had taken place.

But he said that "whether or not we hold exercises, and when we hold them, are decided by us alone, based on our own needs and the circumstances of our struggle".

"Safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, and the common interests of compatriots across the Taiwan Strait are the (military's) sacred duties," Wu said.

"No matter whether it holds exercises, the People's Liberation Army will not be absent or soft-hearted when it comes to striking down (Taiwanese) 'independence' and pushing for unification," he said, referring to the Chinese armed forces.

Any effort by Taipei to achieve independence "will inevitably be strictly punished and are doomed to failure", Wu said.​

 

[Saif]

China holds ‘shooting’ drills

China’s military yesterday held “shooting training” off Taiwan’s southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing’s control.

www.thedailystar.net

China holds ‘shooting’ drills
Vows ‘reunification’ push; Taipei sends forces to keep watch

China's military yesterday held "shooting training" off Taiwan's southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing's control.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activities, including several rounds of full-scale war games during the past three years.

Shortly before 9:00 am, Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement, it had detected 32 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a "joint combat readiness drill" with Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait area.

"During this period it even blatantly violated international practice by setting up a drills area in waters about 40 nautical miles (74 km) off the coast ... without prior warning, claiming that it would carry out 'shooting training'," the ministry added.

Taiwan's major southwestern population centres of Kaohsiung and Pingtung are both home to important naval and air bases. Kaohsiung is also home to Taiwan's largest port, a busy hub for global shipping.

The exercises endanger the safety of international flights and shipping and are a "blatant provocation" to regional peace and stability, the ministry said, adding that it had dispatched its own forces to keep watch.

There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills around Taiwan and its defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's other recent military activity in the region, such as that off Australia's coast, are "proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific," Taiwan's ministry said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule, and has denounced both President Lai Ching-te as a "separatist", and the United States for its support for Taiwan. Earlier yesterday, the ruling Communist Party's leader, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese "reunification".​

 

[Saif]

China launches military drills around Taiwan, calls its president a ‘parasite’

China’s military said it had begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to “serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”, calling Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-Te a “parasite”.

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China launches military drills around Taiwan, calls its president a ‘parasite’

Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong is seen in this screenshot taken from a video released by the Eastern Theatre Command of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) on April 1, 2025. Photo taken from Reuters

China's military on Tuesday said it had begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence", calling Taiwan's President Lai Ching-Te a "parasite".

The exercises around the democratically governed island, which China views as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring under its control, come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month.

China detests Lai as a "separatist," and in a video accompanying the Eastern Theater Command's announcement of the drills depicted him as cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan.

"The focus is on exercises such as combat readiness patrols at sea and in the air, seizing comprehensive control, striking maritime and land targets, and imposing blockade controls on key areas and routes," the Eastern Theater Command said on its official WeChat social media account.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that China's Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered the island's response area on Monday, adding that it had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated land-based missile systems in response.

"The Chinese Communist Party has continued to increase its military activities around Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific region... and has become the biggest 'troublemaker' in the international community," the statement added.

'CLOSING IN'

China's military released a series of propaganda videos in quick succession after the drill announcement, depicting Chinese warships and fighter jets encircling Taiwan, Taipei being aimed at from above, and military vehicles patrolling city streets.

A video of a poster accompanying the drills titled "Closing In," and showing Chinese forces surrounding the island, was released on the Eastern Theater Command's Weibo.

This was followed by a video titled "Shell", depicting president Lai as a green cartoon bug spawning parasites across the island, on the Eastern Theater Command's WeChat page.

"Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction," the animation said.

Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said such rhetoric was not conducive to peace and "shows their provocative character," when asked about Lai's cartoon depiction.

A third video, "Subdue Demons and Vanquish Evils", featured Sun Wukong, the magical monkey king from the Ming Dynasty epic "Journey to the West" as he is depicted in the "Black Myth: Wukong" hit video game.

It opens with the video's title flashing across the screen and the Chinese mythical warrior riding on clouds before cutting to footage of Chinese fighter jets.

"The joint exercise and training conducted by the Eastern Theater of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the vicinity of Taiwan Island is a resolute punishment for the Lai Ching-Te authorities' rampant 'independence' provocations," said Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

Taiwan's Koo told reporters the PLA should focus first on resolving its issues with corruption instead of destroying peace and stability in the region.

China's military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge over the past few years, which saw former Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu ousted in October 2024.

China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Koo's remarks.

The Global Times, which is owned by the People's Daily newspaper of the governing Chinese Communist Party, said the drill had not been given a code name to show that Chinese military forces surrounding the island "has become a normal practice," citing Zhang Chi of National Defence University.

"Through a series of exercises held in the Taiwan Strait in recent years, the PLA has strongly enhanced its ability to prepare for war and fight battles," the article on the paper's Weixin social media page added.​

 

[Saif]

China deployed 2 aircraft carrier groups, dozens of ships: Taiwan

China deployed two aircraft carrier groups and dozens of ships in waters north and south of Taiwan last month, a Taiwanese security official said Monday, as Beijing keeps up military pressure on the self-ruled island.

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China deployed 2 aircraft carrier groups, dozens of ships: Taiwan
Agence France-Presse . Taipei, Taiwan 02 June, 2025, 22:24

China deployed two aircraft carrier groups and dozens of ships in waters north and south of Taiwan last month, a Taiwanese security official said Monday, as Beijing keeps up military pressure on the self-ruled island.

Up to 70 Chinese ships, including navy vessels, were monitored from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea from May 1-27, a security official said on the condition of anonymity.

Beijing has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around Taiwan in recent years as it pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island.

China has refused to rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control, leaving the island to face the constant threat of invasion.

‘Its military actions and grey-zone activities have included large-scale deployments across the entire island chain, involving comprehensive maximum pressure,’ the security official said in remarks released Monday.

‘On average, there have been between 50 to 70 naval vessels and government ships as well as hundreds of sorties by various military aircraft continuously conducting harassment operations.’

Some of the ships passed through the Miyako Strait to the Western Pacific Ocean for ‘long-distance training, including combined air-sea exercises’, the official said.

Another 30 Chinese vessels with no name, documentation or port of registry were detected near Taiwan’s Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait on May 19 and had been ‘deliberately sent to harass’, the official said.

And a total of 75 Chinese aircraft were involved in three ‘combat readiness patrols’ near the island during the month, Taiwan’s defence ministry figures show.

Asia-Pacific’s so-called first island chain links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, while the Yellow Sea is west of South Korea — all partners of the United States and critical to its influence in the region.

The Taiwanese security official said China’s activities in May were ‘more provocative than previously observed’.

In one incident, Tokyo and Beijing exchanged diplomatic protests each accusing the other of ‘violating’ national airspace, after a Chinese helicopter and coast guard vessels faced off with a Japanese aircraft around disputed islands.

The Chinese actions were a demonstration of ‘military expansion’ and were aimed at controlling the ‘entire island chain and improving their capabilities’, the official said.

China’s deployment coincided with Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te’s speech on May 20 marking his first year in office and came ahead of an annual security forum in Singapore at the weekend.

US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China was ‘credibly preparing’ to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia.

Beijing, which did not send its defence minister Dong Jun to the summit, warned Washington ‘should not play with fire’.

‘It felt like they were in a state where they could announce something at any moment, trying to seize on some opportunity or excuse to act,’ the Taiwanese official said of the Chinese.

China has carried out several large-scale military drills around Taiwan since Lai took office.​