A fleet of 19 Chinese military aircraft yesterday morning flew into Taiwan’s airspace in a pincer formation, marking the second consecutive day of such incursions, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Taiwan’s military responded by scrambling jets, issuing radio warnings, and mobilizing surveillance and air defense systems, the ministry said.
The Chinese aircraft fleet comprised 12 J-16 multirole strike fighters, two J-10 lightweight fighters, two J-11 air superiority fighters, two H-6 strategic bombers and a Y-8 transport plane, the ministry said.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Ministry of Defense
A ministry chart showed that the J-10 and J-11 fighters crossed the median line in the northern part of the Taiwan Strait, while the H-6 bombers and the Y-8 plane entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone.
A pincer movement, also known as a double envelopment, is designed to attack the enemy on two flanks.
Such maneuvers by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are provocative actions that infringe on Taiwan’s sovereignty, the ministry said, urging Beijing to exercise restraint and stop being a “troublemaker” in the region.
On Friday, 18 PLA aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace, the ministry said.
The incursions coincided with a three-day visit by a US delegation headed by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach, who attended a memorial service yesterday for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
The PLA flights into Taiwanese airspace might be part of a “combat exercise” aimed at intimidating the nation and wearing down its air force, a military source said.
The intrusions on Friday are another example of how China is increasingly using its military to coerce Taiwan, a US Department of Defense spokesman said.
Pentagon spokesman John Supple said that the “aggressive and destabilizing actions” by China’s military reflect “a continued attempt to alter the status quo and rewrite history.”
“This is another example of [China] increasingly using its military as a tool of coercion with Taiwan and other neighbors,” Supple said.
“Taiwan’s security — and its people’s ability to determine their future, free from coercion — remains a vital interest to the United States and is integral to regional security,” he added.
Separately, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the PLA’s actions “military blustering.”
“We sent the delegation to a funeral and the Chinese have apparently responded by military blustering. I’ll leave it at that,” Pompeo told reporters while on a visit to Guyana.
Supple declined to confirm media reports that the US is preparing to approve a large arms sale to Taiwan, saying that the government does not comment on pending arms sales or transfers before formally notifying the US Congress.
CNN on Friday reported that the US is planning to sell seven packages of weapon systems to Taiwan, citing anonymous congressional and administration sources, but said it was unclear when Congress would receive formal notification, as is required by law.
The package is expected to include a large sale of MQ-9B Reaper drones, along with associated equipment and program support, at a value of about US$600 million, said one US official cited in the article.
The most sensitive portion of the proposed package is a long-range air-to-ground missile, the Boeing-made AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER, which could be used by Taiwan’s F-16s, the New York Times reported.
After Reuters on Wednesday broke the news of the potentially imminent sale, the ministry released a statement dismissing the report as “media speculation.”
Taiwan’s military handles arms purchase deals that are under evaluation or being negotiated, based on the principles of confidentiality and discretion, the ministry said, adding that it only publicly reports such deals after the US Department of State has formally notified Congress.
Pursuing seven sales at once is a “rare departure” from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were “spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing,” the Reuters report said.
Additional reporting by AFP
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS