As the Communist Party of China (CCP) increases pressure on the autonomous island, Taiwan’s military found 17 Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around the island nation on Jan. was deployed.
Taiwan Ministry of Defense report Around 6 a.m. local time on Friday, four Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s Southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), chasing CCP fighters and naval vessels.
Taiwan’s military responded by deploying aircraft, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems to monitor CCP aircraft and ships.
The ministry also detected 12 Chinese fighter jets and four naval vessels surrounding Taiwan at 6 a.m. (local time) on January 5, and four Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s ADIZ. said to have found
The Chinese Communist Party maintains that Taiwan is an independent province that must unite with mainland China and vows to use military force to achieve this goal. Taiwan has been an autonomous democracy since the end of her Chinese civil war in 1949 and has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party.
The Chinese Communist Party sent 71 planes and seven boats to the island on Christmas Day in the biggest use of force since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) visited Taiwan last August. , regularly used the military to intimidate Taiwan.
Citing data released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, AFP reported that a total of 1,727 Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s ADIZ in 2022, with more than 960 in 2021.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said: Guardian On December 12, 2022, he said the CCP’s military threat to Taiwan had become “more serious than ever”.
“There is no doubt that China wants to use another pretext to carry out future attacks on Taiwan. So this is a military threat to Taiwan,” Wu said.
CCP remains silent on Taiwan’s offer
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said on Jan. 1 that she was willing to help China deal with the COVID-19 outbreak after the Chinese Communist Party suddenly changed its zero COVID-19 policy last month. However, Beijing has yet to respond to her offer.
Victor Wang, director of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said on Thursday that Taiwan was waiting for Beijing’s response on the assistance needed to deal with the COVID surge before moving forward with its offer of assistance.
CECC said Taiwan cannot assess the situation in China without direct communication with the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwan News report.
The CCP abruptly abandoned its strict zero-COVID policy last month as COVID cases surged and massive protests over harsh restrictions on life in China arose. Throughout December, Chinese media reported that the country’s medical services were overwhelmed by the rapid rise in cases.
As many as 37 million people a day are estimated to be infected with COVID in China, according to leaked minutes from a meeting of the country’s top health authority, which has been confirmed by multiple news outlets.
Alex Tan, a professor of international relations at the University of Canterbury, said it was unclear whether Taiwan could help China fight the coronavirus outbreak because of the shortage of medicines on the island.
“Taiwanese can [provide China] personal protective equipment. However, Taiwan is also relatively lacking in medical care, so I’m not sure if we can help in terms of medical care,” he told Australian media on January 2.
Tang added that Beijing was unlikely to accept Taipei’s proposal, which could impose preconditions that would be difficult for Taiwan to fulfill.
“In the past, we have seen China [People’s Republic of China] They appear to want to work with Taiwan, but they create so many preconditions that make it very difficult for the Taiwanese authorities to accept. [are] “It comes with some sovereignty issues and claims about the One China policy.”
Lisa Bian and Sean Tseng contributed to this report.
Aldgra Fredly is a Malaysia-based freelance writer covering Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.