The number of Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) last year was the highest since 1996, with the majority of them occurring in the zone’s southwest, a government-funded report has said.
Chinese military aircraft entered the nation’s ADIZ on 91 days from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said in a report on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Last year also saw the highest number of long-distance training missions by the Chinese military around Taiwan, the institute said, citing just six and 20 missions in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Photo: Reuters
During the 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait missile crisis, China conducted a series of ballistic missile tests in the waters around Taiwan in the run-up to the nation’s first direct presidential election.
Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) has said that the PLA flew about 380 sorties into the southwest ADIZ last year, a trend that has not been seen in the past.
The institute, which is affiliated with the ministry, said the Chinese intrusions are connected to the frequency of US military activities in the area, and are a warning over the warming of relations between Taiwan and the US.
There could be several reasons for the increase in intrusions, one of which is that China might be testing Taiwan’s military response capabilities, as the median line of the Taiwan Strait does not extend into the southwest ADIZ.
The PLA’s actions are also an effort to increase its presence in an attempt to expand China’s sphere of influence, the institute said.
Another reason could be to intimidate the Taiwanese military and exert pressure on its defenses on the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙島) in the South China Sea.
An important factor to consider is that China is using marine patrol aircraft to collect underwater and other related information in the area, which is the main passageway for vessels and submarines entering the western Pacific, it said.
The PLA is also hoping to deter Taiwanese and US submarine activity in the region, it added.
The institute said that in the long-term, the intrusions could offer Taiwan certain advantages, such as increasing the legitimacy of US sales of offensive weapons to Taiwan.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS