Taiwan detects 22 Chinese aircraft around island
by AFP Staff Writers
Taipei (AFP) April 27, 2024

Taiwan's defence ministry said Saturday it had detected 22 Chinese warplanes and drones around the self-ruled island in a window of less than three hours.

The sorties come less than a month before the May 20 inauguration of new Taiwan president Lai Ching-te, who China regards as a dangerous separatist.

"We detected activities from 22 PLA aircraft... since 9:30 am (0130 GMT)," it said in a statement released at 12:10 pm on Saturday.

"12 aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and central air defence identification zone," it said, adding that the warplanes and drones joined Chinese naval vessels in "joint combat patrol".

The median line bisects the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180-kilometre (110-mile) waterway separating the island from mainland China.

Beijing, which does not recognise the line, claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

Under the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, tensions between Beijing and Taipei have ramped up, as she and her government reject China's claim to the island.

Her deputy, Vice President Lai, won the island's January presidential election despite warnings from Beijing that he would cause "war and decline" for Taiwan.

Saturday's show of military might comes as the United States and the Philippines are conducting joint military exercises, including near the potential flashpoints of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

The joint drills involve a simulation of retaking enemy-occupied islands in areas facing Taiwan.

Beijing claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety despite an international ruling that the claim has no legal basis, and recent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels have stoked fears of wider conflict.

China's foreign ministry has accused the United States of "stoking military confrontation".

Taiwan president-elect names cabinet ahead of inauguration
Taipei (AFP) April 25, 2024 - Taiwanese president-elect Lai Ching-te named his cabinet and security team appointees on Thursday as he prepares to take office next month.

China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not renounce the use of force to bring it under its control, has labelled Lai a "dangerous separatist".

Lai said Thursday the island was "facing unprecedented challenges" ahead of his inauguration on May 20.

"In the face of the rise of authoritarianism and China pressing closer, the national security team must not shirk our responsibility, must take the country's future as our own mission, and must shoulder the duty to defend our country," he said.

Lai named security council head Wellington Koo as his new defence minister, replacing Chiu Kuo-cheng.

Koo said Taiwan was the "most important link" in maintaining regional peace and stability, adding that "we need to take part in the development of cooperative deterrence".

"Our primary goal is to complicate the calculations of the other side of the Strait and to make China's timetable for potential reckless military actions constantly postponed in order to maintain stability in Taiwan Strait," he said.

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu will take over as head of the national security council, Lai said.

Lin Chia-lung, the current secretary-general at the presidential office, will become foreign minister.

Taiwan is separated from China by a narrow 180-kilometre (110-mile) waterway, which serves as a major transit route for the global shipping industry.

China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan, sending warplanes and naval vessels that keep Taipei's armed forces in a constant state of alert.

The island's key partner and weapons provider, the United States, approved a multi-billion defence aid package this week that includes replenishing equipment for Taipei's armed forces as well as "foreign military financing" for Taiwan and other regional countries.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned that the strengthening of ties between Taiwan and the United States "will only increase tensions and the risk of conflict across the Taiwan Strait", and called on Washington to stop arming the island.

But Taipei's foreign ministry spokesman Jeff Liu said Thursday it was China that had been "stepping up military threats (by) unilaterally changing the status quo of the Taiwan Strait".

"Such international concern has proven that the Taiwan Strait issue is absolutely not a Chinese internal affair as China claims," Liu said, reiterating thanks to Washington for the package.

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