Why has China decided to extend its military exercises around Taiwan?.(photo:IN)
Taiwanese armed forces have monitored the situation and deployed naval vessels and coastal systems in response to China’s activities…reports Asian Lite News
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said it tracked four Chinese naval ships around Taiwan between 6 am on Sunday to 6 am on Monday.
In an official tweet on X, Taiwan Defence Ministry said that “4 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and employed appropriate forces to respond.”
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, Taiwanese armed forces have monitored the situation and deployed naval vessels and coastal systems in response to China’s activities.
No People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line or entered the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) during that time.
Earlier, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence tracked six Chinese naval vessels operating around the country from 6 am (local time) on April 6 to 6 am (local time) on April 7
In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence stated, “6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed Navy vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.”
“Illustration of flight path is not provided due to no PLA aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entering Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ during this timeframe,” it added.
On April 6, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) observed the seven Chinese naval vessels and one aircraft around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Friday and 6 am (local time) on Saturday.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND), Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s Eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). In response, Taiwan deployed aircraft, naval ships and air defence missile systems to monitor China’s activity.
In a post on X, Taiwan’s MND stated, “1 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s eastern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and employed appropriate forces to respond.”
So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 40 times and naval vessels 45 times.
Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan.
Gray zone tactics are defined as “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force.” (ANI)
Xi Jinping arrives for the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Ju Peng/IANS)
Amidst tensions, Chinese citizens advocate peaceful means for China-Taiwan unification, preferring status quo if peaceful resolution isn’t feasible….reports Asian Lite News
The ‘unification’ of Taiwan with mainland China is not the main priority for many Chinese people, and around one-third consider launching a full-scale war on the self-ruled island “unacceptable,” Al Jazeera reported.
But, even though the people’s focus remains underpinned on the economy and other crucial fronts, the Taiwan issue will remain the ‘cornerstone’ of the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative.
The communists won the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the nationalists of the Kuomintang (KMT) fled Beijing for the island of Taiwan. It was on Kinmen, the main island of the archipelago of the same name, less than 10 km (6.2 miles) from the coast of China, that the nationalists repulsed repeated communist invasion attempts, but not before the fighting had wreaked havoc on both Xiamen and Kinmen, Al Jazeera reported.
Kinmen and its outlying islets – some of which lie even closer to the Chinese coast – have been a part of Taiwan’s territory ever since.
Chinese citizens were once able to get tourist visas to visit the islands, but that ended with the pandemic.
“It is difficult to imagine that this used to be a warzone,” 23-year-old Shao Hongtian said. “Kinmen, China and Taiwan are all part of the same nation, so it should be possible to visit, and I hope I can visit one day.”
Like Shao, Chinese President Xi Jinping and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) too claim that Taiwan and its territory are part of China.
Xi said in his New Year’s address that China’s unification with democratic Taiwan was an “historical inevitability,” and China has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification. Last year Xi called on China’s armed forces to strengthen their combat readiness.
In recent years, the Chinese military has increased its pressure on Taiwan with almost daily airborne and maritime incursions close to Taiwan’s air and sea space. This further intensified after the visit of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.
At times, the Chinese manoeuvres have been accompanied by sabre-rattling rhetoric and large-scale military drills.
Lately, tensions have also been rising near Kinmen.
Last month, two Chinese fishermen were killed when their speedboat capsized as they attempted to flee the Taiwanese coastguard when they were discovered fishing “within prohibited waters” about one nautical mile (1.8km) from the Kinmen archipelago, Al Jazeera reported.
Since then, the Chinese coastguard has stepped up its activities around Kinmen.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Chinese government’s Taiwan Affairs Office, called the February incident “vicious” and stressed the waters were “traditional” fishing grounds for fishermen in China and Taiwan. There were no off-limits waters around Kinmen, she added.
A second capsize was reported on Thursday, and on this occasion, China asked for help from the Taiwan coastguard.
But, despite the recent tensions, Chinese citizen Shao says hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.
“I want unification to happen peacefully,” he said. He said that if that is not possible, it would be better to keep things as they are.
He knows that many of his friends feel the same way. According to Shao, if they go to Kinmen and Taiwan, it should be as visitors, not as fighters.
“The Taiwanese haven’t done anything bad to us, so why should we go there to fight them?” he said, convinced that any war between China and Taiwan would result in significant casualties on both sides. “Unification with Taiwan is not worth a war.”
According to Al Jazeera, a study published by the University of California San Diego’s 21st Century China Center last year suggests that Shao and his friends are not alone in opposing a war over Taiwan.
China breathes fire as the world converges on the South China Sea(Photo:indianarrative)
The study explored Chinese public support for different policy steps regarding unification with Taiwan and it was found that one-third of Chinese respondents termed launching a full-scale war to achieve unification as “unacceptable.”
Only one per cent rejected all other options but war, challenging the Chinese government’s assertion that the Chinese people were willing to “go to any length and pay any price” to achieve unification, Al Jazeera reported.
Mia Wei, a 26-year-old marketing specialist from Shanghai is not surprised by such results.
“Ordinary Chinese people are not pushing the government to get unification,” she said. “It is the government that pushes people to believe that there must be unification.”
At the same time, support for a unification war turned out to be close to the same level found in similar studies from earlier years, indicating that despite the growing tension in the Taiwan Strait and renewed talk about taking control of Taiwan, there has not been a corresponding increase in support for more forceful measures.
Wei believes that Chinese like herself are more concerned with developments inside their country, amid issues like property crisis and economic concerns.
“First there was Covid, then the economy got bad and then the housing market got even worse,” she said. “I think Chinese people have their minds on more important things than unification with Taiwan.”
However, regardless of what Chinese people might think, Eric Chan, a senior fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, DC believed that unifying Taiwan with the mainland will remain a ‘cornerstone’ of the CCP’s narrative.
“Unification is not a topic that is up for any sort of debate with the general public,” he said.
Although the Chinese leadership often claims that China is a democratic country where the party is guided by the will of the Chinese people, there are no regular national elections or free media, and online discourse is restricted and regularly censored. Speaking out against the CCP can also result in criminal convictions.
Since Xi became president in 2012, crackdowns on civil liberties have intensified, and Xi has centralised power around himself to a degree unprecedented since the rule of Mao Zedong – the man who led the communists to victory against the nationalists and became communist China’s first leader, Al Jazeera reported.
During Mao’s rule, reforms and purges of Chinese society led to the deaths of millions of Chinese people, while over 4,00,000 Chinese soldiers died as a result of his decision to enter the 1950-1953 Korean War on North Korea’s side.
But according to Chan, the days when a Chinese leader could expend tens of thousands of lives in such a manner are over. Recent government actions that exacted a heavy toll on citizens led to public pushback, and Xi did not appear immune.
During the Covid pandemic, Xi ardently defended the country’s zero-COVID policy even though its mass testing and strict lockdowns had dire socioeconomic consequences. The government eventually abandoned the policy as the economy sank, and people took to the streets across China’s major cities demanding an end to the lockdowns, even calling for Xi to step down, Al Jazeera reported.
As for war, the circumstances are also different. A battle for Taiwan would be existential for the communist party and Xi, according to Chan.
According to Chan, the public outrage over a long unification war that might even end in a Chinese defeat could ‘endanger’ the party’s rule. So, he expects the CCP instead continuing to engage in low-cost grey zone operations against Taiwan while developing a Chinese military that would be able to score a swift victory.
For citizens like Shao, however, any attempt to settle the issue through conflict would be a disaster.
“I don’t think it will end well for anyone – not for those that have to fight it and not for the government that starts it,” he said. (ANI)
The Ministry stated that Taiwan has continuously backed Palau’s tourism development efforts, aiming to enhance the Pacific nation’s economic resilience and sustainability….reports Asian Lite News
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Thursday affirmed that the country will continue to push for peace, prosperity and stability with Palau in the Indo-Pacific region, even though China has encouraged the Pacific ally to cut ties with Taipei, Central News Agency Taiwan reported.
The Ministry said in a statement that Taiwan has long supported Palau in tourism development in a bid to strengthen the Pacific nation’s “economic resilience and sustainability.”
The Taiwan Foreign Ministry said that Taipei has been keen to help Ngerulmud improve its tourism industry in the post-Covid era, maintaining stable direct flight links between the two countries while working with like-minded countries to support the Pacific island nation’s development.
“In the future, MOFA will continue to team up with Palau to facilitate peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” the statement read.
This came after Cleo Paskal, a researcher at the US-based think tank ‘Foundation for Defense of Democracies’, posted a letter from Palau President Surangel Whipps Junior to a US senator on her X handle, Focus Taiwan reported.
“The PRC has already offered to ‘fill every hotel room’ in our tourism-based private sector — ‘and more if more are built’ — and USD 20 million a year for two acres for a ‘call centre,'” the letter stated.
Whipps urged the US Congress to support the Compacts of Free Association (COFA), a financial aid agreement with Palau, that also includes Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
A renewal of the 20-year COFA was signed late last year, but USD 7 billion to fund it is still struggling to find a path forward in the US Congress, Central News Agency Taiwan reported citing international media.
Whipps further said that as long as the US Congress fails to renew the COFA aid package, it will “play into the hands of the CCP and the leaders here (some of whom have done ‘business’ with the PRC) who want to accept its seemingly attractive economic offers — at the cost of shifting alliances, beginning with sacrificing Taiwan.”
In response, the ministry said Whipps has repeatedly supported Taiwan’s international organizations on many international occasions, including the UN General Assembly and the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) held last year.
The Taiwan ministry also described Whipps as an “adamant ally” of Taiwan, as per CNA Taiwan.
In addition, it said Whipps had a phone conversation with Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Ching-te soon after the presidential election on January 13 and congratulated Taiwan for advancing ‘democratic values’, indicating the bilateral ties between the two countries are stable and continue to grow.
Notably, Taiwan has long criticised China accusing it of “poaching” its diplomatic allies
Nauru severed ties with Taiwan two days after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate was elected president.
It was the 10th diplomatic ally Taipei lost to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May 2016 due to deteriorating cross-Taiwan Strait relations, Focus Taiwan reported. (ANI)
Members of two parties at the council in Sweden’s second-largest city submitted a motion to expand its foreign relations….reports Asian Lite News
The Chinese embassy in Sweden warned the Gothenburg City Council as it considered concluding sister city agreements with Taiwan to reduce its reliance on China, Taiwan News reported.
Members of two parties at the council in Sweden’s second-largest city submitted a motion to expand its foreign relations.
However, the move caught the attention of the Chinese embassy in Stockholm, according to the report.
The mission sent an e-mail to the Gothenburg City Council, warning it should adhere to the One China principle, Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, the Goteborg Posten reported. The politicians should handle the “Taiwan issue” correctly, as it was at the very core of China’s interests, the embassy said.
While Gothenburg and Shanghai were sister cities, there were rising suspicions about national security threats from China’s investments. Several Swedish cities have ended sister relations with Chinese cities, but Gothenburg has economic factors to consider.
China’s Geely owns Gothenburg-based carmaker Volvo Car Corporation, leaving more than 10,000 jobs at risk if relations between the two countries deteriorate. As a result, opinions at the city council were divided about whether to deal with the issue or leave it up to the central government, Taiwan News reported.
Taiwan’s envoy to Sweden, Klement Gu, called on the mayor of Gothenburg to visit Taiwan and witness the country’s economy, culture, and education. Bilateral relations should not be subject to interference by China, he said.
Five Chinese balloons detected crossing Taiwan Strait
Eight Chinese balloons were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the most in a single day to date, with two of them later flying over Taiwan, Central News Agency Taiwan reported quoting the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on Saturday.
According to the report, five of the eight balloons crossed the median line at points ranging from 68 nautical miles northwest of Keelung to 92 nautical miles west of the port city, while two crossed the line 55-65 nautical miles from Taichung and crossed the line closer to southern Taiwan.
They flew at altitudes ranging from 15,000 feet to 38,000 feet, according to the MND.
The fourth balloon, which made its way across the median line at 8 am, flew over central Taiwan before disappearing above the island at 9.52 am, according to an MND chart of the balloons’ paths.
Central News Agency Taiwan reported that the sixth balloon, which crossed the median line at 10:41 a.m., flew over the northern part of Taiwan before disappearing at 12:32 p.m. above waters to the east of Taiwan, the MND said.
Taiwan’s military did not make any comment on the type of balloons involved nor did it speculate on why Beijing sent eight balloons across the median line in a single day.
Another two military aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles also crossed Taiwan’s median line between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, the MND said.
The median line in the Taiwan Strait served for many years as a tacit border between the two sides, but China’s military has more freely sent aircraft, drones, and balloons across it over the past 18 months, since former United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. (ANI)
This decision deviates from the November 2023 resolution, permitting local travel agencies to arrange trip schedules for tour groups to China starting March 1, 2024….reports Asian Lite News
This decision marks a departure from the November 2023 resolution, which allowed local travel agencies to begin arranging trip schedules for tour groups to China starting March 1, 2024
Taiwan’s Tourism Administration announced on Wednesday its decision to uphold a three-year ban on Taiwanese tour groups travelling to China, citing Beijing’s failure to reciprocate by sending Chinese group tourists as reported by Central News Agency Taiwan.
“The original plan will no longer proceed considering changes in the current situation and factors such as travel safety for Taiwanese nationals,” stated the administration in a release.
This decision marks a departure from the November 2023 resolution, which allowed local travel agencies to begin arranging trip schedules for tour groups to China starting March 1, 2024, as reported by Central News Agency.
Originally, Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai had announced during a November plenary session of the Legislature that the Cabinet would lift cross-strait travel restrictions by the Lunar New Year, to take effect in March.
According to Central News Agency, the government’s decision to permit Taiwanese tour groups to visit China would also entail the reopening of Taiwan’s borders to tour groups from China, added Wang.
Wang’s statements represented a shift in the government’s stance expressed in May 2023 and a statement by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s top government agency overseeing cross-Taiwan Strait affairs, in late August.
On May 19, when Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, announced that Chinese travel agencies could resume business involving receiving Taiwanese group tourists immediately, Taipei did not respond positively.
Instead, then Tourism Bureau chief Chang Shi-chung stated that regulations on group travel should be negotiated through existing channels–the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits–although Taiwan welcomed China’s announcement.
The Tourism Administration stated on Wednesday that the planned policy had to be canceled because “the time is not yet right to resume our travel agency’s group tours to China.”
The administration cited China’s reluctance to proceed with the reciprocal arrangement and expressed concerns about flight safety due to China’s recent unilateral adjustment of its flight path close to the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
China terminated an “offset measure” for the southbound operation of the M503 flight path, which is west of the median line of the Taiwan Strait, on February 1, and initiated eastbound operation of routes W122 and W123, connecting M503 with Fuzhou and Xiamen cities in Fujian Province. (ANI)
Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Arevalo had recently reaffirmed his government’s wish to maintain its diplomatic recognition with Taiwan…reports Asian Lite News
Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday said that the new Guatemalan government’s intention to develop trade ties with China does not conflict with the country’s policy of maintaining diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Focus Taiwan reported citing Central News Agency (CNA).
In a statement, Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the remarks made by Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez in an interview regarding trade ties with China did not come as a surprise, CNA reported citing Reuters.
It said that the Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo-led government has consistently maintained a policy of maintaining the country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan while also developing trade ties with China.
Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Arevalo had recently reaffirmed his government’s wish to maintain its diplomatic recognition with Taiwan when the allied leader met with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu at his inauguration ceremony held on January 14.
Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jaushieh Joseph Wu, attended the inauguration of Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo and Vice President Karin Herrera and related events on January 14, according to the statement released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It further said that Taiwan will continue to bolster closer cooperation and exchanges with Guatemala under the leadership of Bernardo Arevalo and his new administration to further strengthen bilateral ties.
Carlos Ramiro Martinez said while Guatemala will continue to work with Taiwan “at the levels we have doing,” Arevalo “has pointed out that we cannot ignore the weight and power China represents.”
He said, “We are interested in approaching them to try and develop some relationship around trade,” adding that this could materialise as an “office of trade interests” that would help find a Chinese market for Guatemalan products, Central News Agency reported citing Reuters report.
He said, “We are making it public – this is not an ambush against Taiwan or the United States.” Guatemala’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Martinez’s latest remarks are consistent with Bernardo Arevalo’s stance.
After his election victory in August, Bernardo Arevalo said he had no intention to modify the status of his country’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan and added that he also wants to improve ties with China.
He said it was “perfectly feasible to have good relations with both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan.” At the time, Arevalo said, “Guatemala’s private sector is interested in expanding relations with China, which counts the Central American country as its main trade partner in the region,” CNA reported citing Reuters.
It remains to be seen how Arevalo’s new government will manage to maintain ties with China and Taiwan, considering China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has made it a precondition for a foreign country to cut diplomatic relations with Taipei before it can have closer ties with Beijing. Notably, Guatemala and Belize are the only nations in Central America to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan. (ANI)
These missiles are integral component of an arms sale package sanctioned by Washington in June 2017…reports Asian Lite News
The United States Department of Defence (DoD) has recently allocated a contract worth 68.4 million USD to an American company for the construction of 50 advanced air-to-ground missiles slated for delivery to Taiwan over the next four years, as reported by Central News Agency Taiwan which cited information from the Department of Defence (DoD).
These missiles, an integral component of an arms sale package sanctioned by Washington in June 2017, are intended for deployment on Taiwan’s fleet of F-16V fighter jets to bolster their long-range strike capabilities, according to a release on the website dated Feb. 2.
According to CNA Taiwan, as part of the 68.4 million USD contract under the aegis of the DoD, a division of the American aerospace and defence conglomerate RTX Corp. will manufacture the 50 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) Air-to-Ground Missiles for distribution to Taiwan’s government within a four-year timeline, according to the announcement.
The bulk of the production will be centered in Tucson, Arizona, where Raytheon Missiles & Defence (RMD) operates, with an anticipated completion date of March 2028, the statement added.
The Air-to-Ground Missile (AGM-154) weighs 1,000 pounds and serves as a precision strike weapon capable of carrying various lethal payloads. It has been integrated into several U.S.-manufactured fighter jets, including Taiwan’s F-16 fleet, as per Focus Taiwan
With a standoff range spanning from 12 to 63 nautical miles, the missile can be launched from beyond the range of enemy point defences while effectively engaging and neutralizing targets.
Upon completion, the missiles will be delivered to Taiwan as part of the 2017 arms sale package, valued at 185.5 million USD. The package encompasses JSOW integration, dummy training missiles, missile containers, spare parts, support and test equipment, Joint Mission Planning System updates, and other technical and logistical support services.
Taiwan’s Air Force recently concluded the upgrade of all 141 of its F-16A/B fighter jets to F-16Vs, equipped with advanced avionics such as the APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, helmet-mounted cueing system, and other flight management and electronic warfare systems.
Furthermore, Taiwan initiated the acceptance of a purchase order for 66 new F-16Vs from the US last year. (ANI)
Deep space, over 2,000 kilometres from Earth, presents harsh radiation conditions, impacting both life forms and technological products…reports Asian Lite News
Taiwan’s National Central University announced the country’s first lunar mission on Monday, revealing that a Deep Space Radiation Probe (DSRP) developed by its faculty and students is scheduled to launch in Japan as early as the fourth quarter of this year, Central News Agency Taiwan reported on Monday.
Deep space, over 2,000 kilometres from Earth, presents harsh radiation conditions, impacting both life forms and technological products, according to Loren Chang, chair of the Department of Space Science and Engineering at National Central University.
The DSRP weighs 400 grams and is slightly larger than the size of a hand. It is designed to study the radiation environment in deep space and its impact on technology from its four-month journey to the moon, providing a reference for future space missions and the design of space and electronic products.
Central News Agency Taiwan reported that after successful ground tests, demonstrating radiation tolerance, the DSRP was transported to Japan’s JAXA Tsukuba Space Center in December last year and will be integrated into the HAKUTO-R Mission 2 lunar lander developed by ispace, a Japanese private lunar exploration company and partner in this moon-landing mission.
When asked how he is feeling, Changa said that he is experiencing a mixture of excitement and nervousness about the upcoming mission.
“We’ve done the best we can in terms of design and verification, so we’re confident that we can accomplish our mission and we’re sure that through this entire process, we’ll learn a lot more that will be beneficial for future missions.”
Central News Agency Taiwan reported that addressing the challenges faced during the 21-month development period, Chang mentioned time constraints as a significant factor since the delivery deadline was set in December of the previous year.
“We went through many previous iterations where we designed, fabricated, tested and then of course we had to revise our design to clear certain issues we found with each revision,” said Chang, adding that the current DSRP is the fifth version.
Chou Yi-hsuan, a fourth-year student in the Department of Space Science and Engineering, shared insights gained from one of the mistakes in the verification stage, Central News Agency Taiwan reported.
“We had to identify issues related to low temperature or abnormalities under vacuum conditions that led to the problem. Step by step, we found the mistake and fixed it,” she said.
Reflecting on the experience of delivering the DSRP in Japan, Chou expressed happiness. “We were really happy when we finally went to Japan as it was something we had been working on for two years, and we could finally deliver our project.” (ANI)
Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, is the biggest of the naturally existing Spratly Islands in the South China Sea….reports Asian Lite News
The Coast Guard Administration has confirmed that a project of making upgrades to a wharf in Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island in the South China Sea has been completed, and added that the project would allow larger vessels to dock at it, reported Focus Taiwan citing the Central News Agency.
On being asked if President Tsai Ing-wen will preside over the reconstructed wharf’s inauguration ceremony, the CGA declined to comment.
The CGA’s confirmation came after a report in the Chinese-language United Daily News (UDN) earlier on Monday, which featured a plea from Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Chen I-hsin for Tsai to visit Taiping to reassert the China’s sovereignty over the disputed island, reported Central News Agency of Taiwan.
Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, is the biggest of the naturally existing Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
It is located 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung and is managed as part of the southern Taiwan city’s Cijin District. However, the island is also claimed by China, Vietnam and Philippines.
Meanwhile, Chen, a member of the Legislature’s Foreign and National Defence Committee underlined that Tsai follow in the footsteps of past Presidents Chen Shiu-bian and Ma Ying-jeou and travel to Taiping for the opening ceremony, the CGA said in a statement, reported Central News Agency of Taiwan.
Notably, the 1.7 billion New Taiwanese Dollar (USD54.4 million) project to remove dirt and deepen navigation channels would allow 4,000-tonne CGA boats to conduct routine patrols in the seas surrounding Taiping, according to a release.
The restoration, which was finished on October 30, 2023 and passed all needed inspections on January 20, also included a reinforcement of typhoon-related disaster mitigation measures, according to the CGA.
The Taiping island in the South China Sea currently hosts around 200 coast guardsmen trained by the Marine Corps who conduct regular training.
It is one of two areas held by the Taiwanese government in the South China Sea, the other being Dongsha, or Pratas Island, located 450 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung. (ANI)
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defence said it monitored the situation with its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems….reports Asian Lite News
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) detected seven Chinese military aircraft, six naval vessels, and one balloon around Taiwan between 9 am (local time) on Sunday to 6 am (local time) on Monday, Taiwan News reported.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, one of the seven People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, entered the southwest air defence identification zone (ADIZ). The aircraft was identified as an unmanned aerial vehicle that came within 170 km (92 NM) of Eluanbi, Taiwan News reported.
In a post on X, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence stated, “7 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected until 06:00 (UTC+8) today. one of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s SW ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and tasked appropriate forces to respond.”
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defence said it monitored the situation with its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. In response, Taiwan’s MND said it scrambled combat patrol aircraft, dispatched naval vessels and deployed land-based air defence missile systems.
Furthermore, the MND said the Chinese balloon was detected 125 km (68 NM) southwest of Taichung at an altitude of 6,700 m (22,000 feet) at 7:27 pm (local time) on Sunday, Taiwan News reported.
The balloon flew in an easterly direction over northern Taiwan and disappeared at 8:52 pm (local time) on Sunday over the northern end of Taiwan’s central mountain range, the report said. So far in January, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence has detected 282 Chinese military aircraft and 128 naval vessels.
Since 2020, China has increased the use of “gray zone tactics” in the form of deployment of military aircraft and naval vessels over the median line and inside Taiwan’s ADIZ.
According to Taiwan News report, gray zone tactics are defined as “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resorting to direct and sizable use of force, according to CSIS. (ANI)
