A fleet of more than 30 Chinese aircraft flew over the surroundings of Taiwan during the last 24 hoursa few days after the US Government approve the possible sale of a drone and loitering missile system to the islandofficial sources reported this Friday.
In its latest daily report, the Ministry of National Defense (MDN) of Taiwan notified the presence of 36 Chinese war aircraft in the vicinity of its territory, the highest figure so far this monthamong which were combat fighters, unmanned vehicles and helicopters.
A total of eighteen of these aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial border that had been respected by Taipei and Beijing for decades, and approached just 74 kilometers from the northern city of Keelung, where a military base is located, and another 107 kilometers from the western town of Taichung.
According to the official report, these incursions took place between 06:40 and 18:08 on Thursday (22:40 GMT on Wednesday and 10:08 GMT on Thursday).
Another fleet of fifteen Chinese aircraft and drones entered the southwestern region of the self-proclaimed Taiwanese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and passed just 68 kilometers from Cape Eluanbi, at the southern tip of Taiwan, between 08:07 and 9:14 p.m. (00:07 and 1:14 p.m. GMT).
The MDN also detected a helicopter in the southeast of the ADIZ, specifically 176 kilometers from Cape Eluanbi.
“The Armed Forces of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) have monitored the situation and employed fighter aircraft, Navy ships and coastal missile systems in response to the activities detected,” the military ministry said in a statement.
These movements occur after the US State Department. approve the possible sale of a combat drone and loitering missile system to Taiwan for a value of 360.2 million dollars (about 336 million euros), which marked the fifteenth sale of weapons to the island by the Administration of US President Joe Biden.
In a press conference, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, assured this Wednesday that the US decision constitutes a “serious violation of China’s sovereignty and security interests”, “seriously harms relations.” between Beijing and Washington and “threatens peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait.
Lin stated that this sale sends “a wrong signal” to the “separatist forces” on the island.
“The actions of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, Taiwan’s ruler) are destined to fail and will have detrimental consequences“added the spokesperson, while reiterating that the Taiwan issue is “the most important red line in relations between China and the US.”
Taiwan – where the Chinese nationalist army withdrew after defeat at the hands of communist troops in the civil war (1927-1949) – has been governed autonomously since the end of the war, although China claims sovereignty over the island. which he considers a rebel province for whose “reunification” he has not ruled out the use of force
