Taipei, Taiwan – Taiwan’s defense ministry reported Wednesday the highest number of Chinese aircraft incursions in the past three months, a few days after the United States State Department removed a text from its website in which it said it did not support the island’s independence.
In its latest daily report, the military portfolio said 33 aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and helicopters, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the northern, eastern and southwestern region of the self-proclaimed Taiwanese Air Defense Identification Zone.
The number of incursions is the highest since Nov. 4, when 37 Chinese warplanes crossed the Strait dividing line and entered the zone.
“The Armed Forces of (Taiwan) have monitored the situation and used mission aircraft, naval vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities,” the defense ministry said.
This came after the US State Department’s website update, a decision criticized by Beijing, who consider the island to be an inalienable part of China.
“They must stop manipulating issues related to China and play a constructive role towards peace and development in the region,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Guo Jiakun on Monday, who also urged the US to “correct its mistakes,” to “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs” and “not send wrong signals to the separatist forces that advocate Taiwanese ‘independence.’”
The island is one of the main points of friction between China and the US, since Washington is Taipei’s main arms supplier and would be its biggest military ally in the event of a war with Beijing.
SOURCE : EFE. | Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |
