The US Navy yesterday said that one of its P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait, as the White House mulls linking aid to Taiwan with that for Israel and Ukraine.
“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations,” the US Navy said in a statement.
The transit demonstrates the US’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, it added.
Photo: AFP
The Ministry of National Defense said the US aircraft had flown north through the Taiwan Strait and stuck to the median line.
Taiwan’s forces kept watch and the situation was “as normal,” it added.
China’s military described the flight as “public hype,” adding that it had sent fighters to monitor and warn the US plane.
In a statement, it said it “remains on high alert at all times to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and regional peace and stability.”
The US last announced a Poseidon mission through the Strait in July.
Meanwhile, an unnamed US official said that the White House has been weighing whether to make a request to the US Congress that would lump funding for Israel with that of Taiwan and Ukraine to improve the chances of gaining passage of assistance for Ukraine’s fight to repel Russian invaders.
Some US Republican lawmakers on Wednesday said they would resist any funding request from US President Joe Biden that combined military aid for Israel and Ukraine, amid resistance from some Republicans to further assistance for Kyiv.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a news briefing on Wednesday that parameters for the administration’s additional funding request to Congress had not been finalized.
Separately, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Jedidiah Royal said he was “very confident” that the US could manage multiple contingencies, in response to concerns about thinning resources if a conflict were to also break out in the Taiwan Strait.
The US would be able through its force posture and resource management to manage any number of possibilities, he told the Global Taiwan Institute’s annual symposium in Washington on Wednesday.
“I would encourage you to fully take on board how much work and energy we’re putting into making sure we’re prepared for every situation,” Royal said.
“If the United States does engage itself, I can assure you that we will be victorious in that regard,” he said.
Conflict in the Taiwan Strait of any kind is “neither imminent nor inevitable,” but Washington wants to make sure it is taking the possibility seriously and preparing “across the board,” he added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS