The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that it had detected 41 Chinese military aircraft and ships around the nation ahead of a Hawaii stopover by President William Lai (賴清德).
In the 24 hours to 6am yesterday, the ministry said that it had detected 33 Chinese aircraft and eight navy vessels in its airspace and waters.
That included 19 aircraft that took part in China’s “joint combat readiness patrol” on Thursday evening and was the highest number in more than three weeks, according to a tally of figures released daily by the ministry.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Taiwan also spotted a balloon — the fourth since Sunday — about 172km west of the nation.
“It can’t be ruled out that there will be a relatively large-scale military exercise in response to Lai’s visit,” said Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a military expert at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
Lai is slated to depart today on his first overseas trip since taking office in May.
He is to stop briefly in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam to meet “old friends,” before he visits Taiwan’s three allies in the Pacific.
Government officials have previously stopped over on US soil during visits to the Pacific or Latin America.
Visiting a temple in New Taipei City yesterday, Lai said he was looking forward to visiting the three Pacific allies on his first overseas visit since assuming office in May.
Lai said he would keep deepening partnerships with other nations and “keep Taiwan going out into the world,” the Presidential Office said in a statement.
China yesterday urged the US to exercise the “utmost caution” on relations with Taiwan, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) saying that China opposes any “scurrying to the United States” of Taiwanese leaders, in any form, or any US support for “separatist activities.”
The South Pacific was once seen as a bastion of support for Taiwan’s claim to statehood, but China has methodically whittled that down.
In the past five years, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Nauru have all been persuaded to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
The Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau are now the only Pacific island nations among the 12 UN member states who are Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
Beijing’s efforts to woo Taiwan’s allies and expand its influence in the region have alarmed the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Switching recognition to China “opened the door to much deeper engagement between Beijing and those countries,” said Mark Harrison, a senior lecturer in Chinese studies at the University of Tasmania.
Lai’s trip is a rare opportunity for the president to represent Taiwan abroad and bolster its claim to statehood.
“Even though they kind of look theatrical and performative, [these trips] actually give Taiwan a genuine voice in the international system,” Harrision said. “They confer legitimacy, they confer the appearance of sovereignty and, with the international system as it is, the appearance of sovereignty is also sovereignty.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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