Taipei, June 18 (EFE).- The Ministry of National Defense (MDN) of Taiwan confirmed this Tuesday the passage of a Chinese nuclear submarine through the Taiwan Strait, a situation that is under “control” thanks to a set of methods of “surveillance and recognition”.
The event occurred in the early hours of the morning of this Tuesday, when a group of Taiwanese fishermen went fishing and came across a submarine on the surface of the sea, according to images broadcast by local media.
According to the sailors’ account, the submarine was located approximately on the dividing line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial border that had been respected by Taipei and Beijing for decades, and was escorted by a warship in the direction of China.
Local media indicated that it could be a Jin-class nuclear submarine, a type of Chinese Navy vessel capable of hosting intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Asked about this issue, the Taiwanese Defense Minister, Wellington Koo, assured this morning that the island government has “understanding” of the situation, but declined to comment on the movements or intentions of the submarine.
“The Ministry of National Defense has used relevant intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods to capture it,” said the minister, emphasizing that Taiwan must manage the different tensions in the Strait with a “calm, rational and appropriate attitude.”
“We must be fully vigilant in the face of China’s continued military harassment and gray zone threats,” Koo said.
During the last 24 hours, the MDN detected a total of twenty Chinese warplanes around Taiwan, of which seven crossed the strait dividing line and approached within 56 nautical miles (103 kilometers) of the western city of Taichung. .
Likewise, a Chinese Army drone flew over the southern and eastern regions of the island, passing just 39 nautical miles (72 kilometers) from the southern cape of Eluanbi, the military ministry said in its latest daily report, which also included The movements of a combat helicopter detected 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) off eastern Taitung County.
During recent months, Chinese warplanes have tightened their encirclement around Taiwan even more, forcing the island government to update its definition of “first strike” to adapt it to this new reality.
In early June, the Taiwanese defense minister said that if Chinese forces enter Taiwan’s airspace or territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from its coasts, or undertake a first strike 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. EFE
jacb/aa/gpv
