The Taiwan authorities They reported this Saturday that thirteen fighters and five ships of the Armed Forces of the Chinese regime were detected in the vicinity of their territory. This increase in Beijing’s hostilities occurs weeks after the sovereigntyist’s inauguration William Lai as president of the island. .
He Taiwanese Ministry of Defense He explained that at 6:00, Six of these aircraft crossed the median line of the strait and entered the air defense identification zone from the southwest..
The Defense portfolio specified that the Taiwanese Armed Forces They acted to monitor the situation and respond to threats from China in accordance with established protocols.
Tension in the region has escalated since the visit of the then president of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosito Taiwan last year, which was followed by a visit to Washington by a Taiwanese delegation which exacerbated the already delicate relations between Beijing and Taipei.
China’s regime has reiterated on several occasions that will not tolerate Taiwan independence and that it will not rule out the use of force to prevent the separation of the islandwhich they consider a province under its sovereignty.
Ties between China and the island of Taiwan were severed in 1949, after Nationalist Party forces Kuomintang suffered defeat in the civil war against the Communist Party and they will move to the archipelago.
Relations were reestablished only at a business and informal level in the late 1980s.
On Thursday, the US State Department gave the green light to the sale of F-16 fighter spare parts, components, supplies and accessories to Taiwan, with an estimated cost of 300 million dollars to strengthen Taipei’s defense amid growing hostilities from China’s regime.
He Ministry of National Defense (MDN) of Taiwan explained in a statement that the purchase will include general parts of the F-16 for a value of 220 million dollars and specific components for another 80 million. This operation is expected to become official in approximately one month.
“The aviation supplies, spare parts and accessories that the United States agreed to sell on this occasion will help ensure that our Air Force combat team is adequately equipped to meet the needs of defense operations. and combat readiness training,” the MDN stated.
The Taiwanese president, William Laihas stated on several occasions that his government will work with Washington to counteract the “authoritarian expansionism”.
“I also hope to improve mutual understanding and reconciliation through exchanges and cooperation with China… and move towards a position of common peace and prosperity”Lai declared at an event in Taipei.
Communications between China and Taiwan were cut off in 2016 after the former president came to power Tsai Ing-wen, who promised to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Lai, who comes from the same Democratic Progressive Party (PDP), has promised to maintain Tsai’s policies of increasing the island’s defense capabilities, while remaining open to dialogue with China.
Since 2016, China has increased military and political pressure on Taiwan, and its naval ships, drones and warplanes maintain a near-daily presence around the island.
The dispute has long turned the Taiwan Strait into one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world.
(With information from EFE, AFP and Europa Press)
