Any Chinese incursion into Taiwan’s airspace would be considered a “first strike,” Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday.
Chiu made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei.
The Ministry of National Defense has been taking such incursions more seriously, following a spate of close flights by Chinese warplanes and drones, Chiu said.
Photo: CNA
Asked whether the “first strike” definition would extend to any kind of Chinese aircraft, he said “yes,” without elaborating what the response would be.
“In the past, we said we will not be the first to strike, which meant we will not strike without them firing artillery shells or missiles, et cetera, first,” Chiu said. “But now the definition has obviously changed, as China has been using new equipment such as drones. So we have adjusted and will view any crossing of aircraft or vessels as a first strike.”
Beijing launched live-fire drills around Taiwan and fired ballistic missiles following a visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The exercises show that Beijing seeks to unilaterally change the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, Chiu said, citing Chinese incursions beyond the median line of the Strait.
The tacit agreement between Taipei and Beijing regarding the median line has been undone forever, Chiu said.
The median line only existed because both sides tacitly agreed to its existence, but any such agreement has been unilaterally overturned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chiu said in response to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng’s (羅致政) question whether the line still exists.
However, the Taiwanese military still patrols and trains only east of the line, he added.
“This principle has not changed; we have not backed down from maintaining the line,” Chiu said, adding that the military would act if its “red lines” were crossed.
Asked whether Chiu agreed with the international media’s portrayal of the Chinese exercises as a semi-blockade of Taiwan, Chiu said that the drills were preparations for war, while a blockade is simply a phase of a war.
If the CCP persists with similar actions, they could be considered a blockade, Chiu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that the military should consider sending nationwide alerts when China fires missiles over Taiwan, as happened during the exercises in August.
Chiang said that Japan on Tuesday issued alerts to residents of Hokkaido and Aomori prefectures, urging them to seek shelter after North Korea launched a ballistic missile that flew over Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean.
Chiu said each nation has different ways of handling such incidents and that he would not comment on Japan’s methods, adding that the ministry could consider issuing such alerts after conducting a poll on the issue.
Asked about CIA Director William Burns’ comments during a CBS interview that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has ordered the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to prepare to invade Taiwan by 2027, Chiu said Taiwan’s military is training for combat “every day.”
The military does not take into account whether a war could break out in this decade or specifically in 2027, he said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS