Table of Contents
Introduction
China’s military sent 103 warplanes toward Taiwan in a 24-hour period in what the island’s defense ministry called a recent new high. The planes were detected between 6 a.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. on Monday, the ministry said. As is customary, they turned back before reaching Taiwan.
CHINA– TAIWAN
China, which asserts Taiwan as part of its territory, has conducted increasingly large military drills in the air and waters around Taiwan as tensions have grown between the two and with the United States. The US, Taiwan’s leading supplier of arms, opposes any attempt to change Taiwan’s status through force.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that 40 of the planes crossed the symbolic halfway point between mainland China and the island. It also reported nine naval vessels in the last 24 hours.
The ministry called the Chinese military action “harassment” and warned it could escalate the tense atmosphere. “We urge the Beijing authorities to bear responsibility and immediately stop such kind of destructive military activities,” it said in a statement.”
Chinese military last week sent a flotilla of ships including the aircraft carrier Shandong into waters near Taiwan. The drills came shortly after the US and Canada sailed warships through the Taiwan Strait, the waters that separate the island from the mainland.
China also revealed a plan for an integrated development demonstration zone with Taiwan in China’s nearby Fujian province, trying to entice Taiwan while also warning it. Experts say it is China’s long-running carrot-and-stick approach.
The recent actions by the Chinese military may be an attempt to sway Taiwan’s presidential election slated to be held in January. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which leans towards formal independence for the island, is anathema to the Chinese government. The Chinese government favors opposition candidates who support working with the mainland.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 when the communists took control of China during a civil war. The losing Nationalists fled to Taiwan and set up their own government on the island.
The island is self-governing, though only a few foreign nations give it official diplomatic recognition. The US among others has formal ties with the Chinese Government while it maintains a representative office in Taiwan.