TAIPEI, TAIWAN —
Taiwan said on Tuesday it had seen 22 military aircraft and 20 Chinese ships near the island in the past 24 hours, as Beijing stepped up its military activity in the area.
Over the weekend, US and Canadian warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait challenging China’s extensive territorial claims. On Monday, Beijing passed with a naval formation led by its aircraft carrier Shandong, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of Taiwan. The ship is expected to perform air, submarine, naval and land attack simulation maneuvers, according to Chinese state media.
Thirteen Chinese military aircraft were reported on Tuesday to have crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial demarcation zone between China and Taiwan, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense.
China claims that Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, is part of its territory that should be reincorporated, by force if necessary. Over the past year, Beijing has stepped up its military activity around the island, with almost daily deployments of warships and aircraft.
“The period from July to September this year was the worst in terms of the Chinese Communist Party’s maneuvers,” said Major General Huang Wen-Chi, deputy chief of the Intelligence Staff of the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, in a press conference.
“There is a lot of warship activity in the seas around the Taiwan Strait. There are also many warships operating in various areas in the South China Sea and East China Sea,” he added.
According to Huang, the Taiwanese army will continue to monitor the movements of the army in Beijing.
