The Ministry of National Defense (MDN) of Taiwan confirmed this Tuesday the passage of a Chinese nuclear submarine through the Taiwan Straita situation that is under “control” thanks to a set of “surveillance and reconnaissance” methods.
The event occurred in the early hours of the morning of this Tuesday, when a group of Taiwanese fishermen went out to fish and came across a submarine on the sea surfaceaccording to images broadcast by local media.
According to the sailors’ story, the submarine was approximately in the Taiwan Strait dividing linean 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 submarinea type of vessel of the Chinese navy capable of hosting intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Asked about this question, the Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Kooassured 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”stated the minister, emphasizing that Taiwan He must manage the different tensions in the strait with a “calm, rational and appropriate attitude.”
“We must be completely vigilant in the face of continuous military harassment and threats in the gray zone of China“, he stated Koo.
During the last 24 hours, the MDN detected a total of twenty Chinese war aircraft in the surroundings of Taiwanof which seven crossed the strait dividing line and approached within 56 nautical miles (103 kilometers) of the western city of taichung.
Likewise, an Army drone Chinese It flew over the southern and eastern regions of the island, passing just 39 nautical miles (72 kilometers) from the southern cape of Eluanbisaid the military ministry in its latest daily report, which also included the movements of a combat helicopter detected 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) from the eastern county of Taitung.
During the last months, war aircraft chinese They have tightened their encirclement even more around Taiwanforcing the island government to update its definition of “first attack” to adapt it to this new reality.
At the beginning of June, the Taiwanese defense minister stated that if the forces chinese enter the airspace or territorial waters of Taiwanwhich extend 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from its coasts, or undertake a first attack against the island, the Army can exercise the right of self-defense and launch counterattacks in response.
Taiwan -where the Chinese nationalist army retreated Kuomintang after the defeat at the hands of communist troops in the civil war – has been governed autonomously since 1949, but China He claims sovereignty over the island, which he considers a rebellious province for whose “reunification” he has not ruled out the use of force.
(With information from EFE)
