Conflicts
Over 100 Chinese military aircraft registered off Taiwan
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighter aircraft during joint combat exercises around the island of Taiwan. photo
© Li Bingyu/XinHua/dpa
China repeatedly demonstrates its military power in front of Taiwan. The People’s Republic sees the democratic island state as part of its country. Now Beijing is showing its strength again.
The Chinese military flies into the area almost daily. This time the number was comparatively high at 103 aircraft. “We call on the authorities in Beijing to take responsibility and immediately stop such unilateral, destructive actions,” said Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.
Penetrated into Taiwan’s air defense zone
According to the information, 40 planes flew over the symbolic center line in the Taiwan Strait, the strait between the Republic of Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. They thereby penetrated the air defense zone in the southeast and southwest of Taiwan.
China, ruled by the Communist Party, sees Taiwan, with its around 24 million inhabitants, as part of its territory. Beijing therefore reacts sensitively when delegations from other countries visit the country or promise support. Most recently, China sanctioned two US defense companies for selling weapons to Taiwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced.
China’s Foreign Minister: Taiwan issue “red line”
Last weekend, representatives from China and the USA spoke to each other in several rounds in Malta. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that the Taiwan issue was a “red line” that should not be crossed in China-US relations, according to Chinese sources. According to the White House, the US and China want to hold further talks at the “highest level” in the coming months.
Democratic Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949. Beijing has threatened to invade in the past. Most recently, observers also assumed that the Chinese military was holding a major exercise in the Western Pacific, where Taiwan is located. China’s Foreign Ministry did not provide any information and called for provocations that disrupted peace in the Taiwan Strait to be avoided.