The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games.
The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines.
It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific.
Photo: Reuters
The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an appropriate vigilance and response,” the ministry added, without elaborating.
Based on a report released by the Japanese Joint Staff Office on Oct. 2, the Chinese Liaoning Carrier Strike Group was operating southeast of the Philippine main island of Mindanao and heading toward the Celebes Sea.
China has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control, and the Chinese military routinely operates around the nation.
President William Lai (賴清德) and his government reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwanese can decide their future.
It was not immediately clear if the latest deployment of the Liaoning is related to Taiwanese officials’ earlier warnings that China could launch another round of military drills following Lai’s Double Ten National Day address on Thursday last week.
In his speech, Lai said that the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) not being subordinate to each other is an objective fact and reflects the current “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait.
Security sources had said before Lai’s address that his speech could prompt new Chinese war games, last held by the country in May in what Beijing said was “punishment” for Lai’s inauguration speech that month.
Earlier yesterday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, which has responsibility for an area that includes Taiwan, put out a propaganda video on its social media accounts entitled “fully prepared and biding one’s time before battle.”
It showed fighter jets and warships operating together, mobile missile launchers being moved into place and amphibious assault vehicles, with a small map of Taiwan included in one of the Chinese characters that make up the video’s title.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not answer calls outside of office hours yesterday.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Taiwanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters they were continuing to watch the situation around Taiwan, as well as Chinese media comments about Lai’s national day speech.
Chinese media has carried several commentaries and stories since Lai’s Thursday speech, denouncing it as “confrontational” and harmful.
A second security source based in Taiwan, familiar with intelligence assessments, said while it was still possible China — wary of creating a crisis over Taiwan so soon ahead of next month’s US presidential election — might keep its reaction to angry words, there remained the possibility of more war games.
China is in the middle of its annual drills season, and its military could just “hang a name” on those exercises and turn them into war games specifically targeting Taiwan, the official, also speaking anonymously, said.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Saturday threatened Taiwan with more trade sanctions in what the government views as Chinese economic coercion.
Additional reporting by CNA
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
RSS