ATS
Taiwan detected a record number of 153 Chinese planes in a single day near the island, according to data released Tuesday by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, at the end of a day of Chinese military maneuvers. Fourteen Chinese ships were also spotted.
These movements occurred during a 25-hour period ending at 6 a.m. local Tuesday, the ministry said. On Monday, Beijing organized military exercises to encircle Taiwan with planes and warships.
These took place a few days after a speech by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Thursday, on the occasion of Taiwan’s National Day. Mr. Lai pledged to “resist Chinese annexation” of the island or “encroachment of (its) sovereignty”.
These exercises were presented by the Chinese army as a “warning” to “separatists”, with Beijing regularly accusing the Taiwanese authorities of campaigning for the independence of the island territory.
Tokyo concerns
China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been terrible since 2016 and the arrival as Taiwanese president of Tsai Ing-wen, then of her successor Lai Ching-te in 2024.
Tokyo has expressed its “concerns” to Beijing about China’s vast military maneuvers to encircle Taiwan and sent fighter jets near the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni.
“The government is closely monitoring the relevant activities with extreme attention and has conveyed Japan’s concerns to the Chinese side,” said the deputy secretary-general of the government.
ATS
