Taiwan flags ‘abnormal’ Chinese movements, rise in military activity around island

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Taiwanese defence ministry, on Friday (September 22) called recent Chinese military movements around the island “abnormal” while also reporting an increase in such activity over the past week or so. The ministry also particularly flagged amphibious exercises as well as drills Taipei has observed in the province facing the island.

The Taiwanese defence ministry, early Friday, said that they detected 32 Chinese aircraft within the previous 24 hours out of which 17 planes crossed the median line – an unofficial barrier between the two sides – according to a map it published. Two of the aircraft also ventured around Taiwan’s southern tip, as per the reports.

Beijing has recently ramped up military drills around Taipei as it continues to claim self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has maintained it will seize it one day, by force, if necessary.

‘Abnormal’ military activities
In a press conference, Taiwan’s defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng, said “Our enemy’s recent movements are really quite abnormal.”

This comes as the island’s defence officials have reported increased military activity during the past week, as dozens of fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships, have operated nearby.

“Our initial analysis is that they are doing joint drills in September, including land, sea, air and amphibious,” Chiu told reporters in Taipei. Beijing is yet to respond to these comments.

The statement also came a day after an unusual statement by the defence ministry which said that it was monitoring Chinese activities – which included the use of long-range artillery, rocket forces and ground troops – near Dacheng Bay located in the southern Chinese province of Fujian which faces Taiwan.

A report by Reuters citing Taiwan security sources said that Beijing performs its landing drills in that area. However, China has not officially announced any new drills in that area while Chiu said releasing the information about Dacheng Bay was in line with the Taiwanese ministry’s principle of keeping the public informed.

“The threat posed by PLA’s (People’s Liberation Army) activities have led to an escalation of tension and damaged the regional security,” said the ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang on Thursday (Sep 21), adding that “closer the PLA’s aircraft are to Taiwan, the stronger our countermeasures will be.”

Taiwan’s defence ministry has also previously said that China typically performs large-scale exercises from July to September.

‘Repeated provocations’
On Monday (Sep 18), the Taiwanese defence ministry raised alarm after they tracked a record 103 PLA aircraft operating near the island in the 24 hours starting Sunday morning out of which 40 crossed the de facto median line.

While Taiwan has frequently assured that it would remain calm and not escalate the situation it has also maintained that it won’t allow “repeated provocations” from China.

A security source told Reuters that Beijing was most likely seeking to wear out Taiwan’s much smaller military with constant missions so close to Taiwan, especially with longer flights along the median line than before.

“China is seeking to normalise these activities and push Taiwan into a corner,” said the anonymous source, adding this risked miscalculation if Chinese ships or aircraft got too close and Taiwan opened fire. (REUTERS)