He Ministry of National Defense (MDN) of Taiwan reported this Thursday that a drone from China Army It flew over the southern and eastern regions of its territory, passing just 39 nautical miles (72 kilometers) from the county of Hualienon the eastern coast of the island.
The unmanned aircraft began its journey at 02:27 local time and ended at 11:05 a.m. the same day (03:05 GMT on Wednesday), the military ministry said in its latest daily report, in which No further details are offered about the device that surrounded the island.
In the last 24 hours, the MDN detected a total of 23 warplanes of the Chinese regime in the surroundings of the territory, of which 15 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and three others entered the southwestern region of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) Taiwanese.
“The Armed Forces have monitored the situation and have used fighter aircraft, Navy ships and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.“said the ministry in a statement.
In recent months, Chinese warplanes have intensified their harassment around Taiwanforcing the island government to update its definition of “first attack” to adapt it to this new reality.
Last week, the Taiwanese Minister of Defense, Wellington Kooassured that if Chinese forces enter the airspace or territorial waters of Taiwan, which extend 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from its coasts, or undertake a first attack against the island, the Army can exercise the right to self-defense and launch counterattacks in response.
Taiwan – where the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang army retreated after defeat by communist troops in the civil war – has been governed autonomously since 1949, but China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a rebellious province. for whose “reunification” he has not ruled out the use of force.
Last Tuesday, Taiwan authorities arrested a former member of the Chinese navy who arrived in Taipei aboard a boat with the possible intention of testing the island defensive capabilitiesaccording to official Taiwanese sources.
The Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA) detected the incursion of a “suspicious boat” six nautical miles (eleven kilometers) off the coast of Tamsui, north of the capital, according to a statement released by the organization.
The vessel later entered the Tamsui River, which flows through the west of the city, and collided with several ships at the district’s ferry terminal; CGA agents confiscated the boat – registered in China – and “immediately” detained the man, who is under judicial investigation.
According to images released by the CGAthe detainee, a 60-year-old man with the last name Ruansurrendered to the authorities without resisting.
Speaking to the media, Minister of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, Kuan Bi-lingassured that he was an “elegant” and “well-dressed” individual, with experience in the Chinese Navy and as a ship captain.
Over the last year there have been 18 cases similar to this one, most of them in the peripheral islands of Taiwan, said the official, who did not rule out that it is a deliberate attempt by the China regime for testing the island’s response mechanisms to maritime incursions.
“Judging by the long-term accumulation of cases, we cannot rule out that this is a test,” said Kuan, who admitted “negligence” in the handling of the case by the island authorities.
(With information from EFE and AFP)
