TAIPEI - Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) called for China to immediately halt its "unilateral military harassment," after a record 103 Chinese military aircraft were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour period.
In a statement, the
MND said that in addition to the 103 warplanes, nine warships were also spotted
in areas close to Taiwan. Of the 103 military aircraft, 40 crossed the median
line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the southwestern and southeastern parts
of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the ministry said.
The MND said it
scrambled planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issued radio warnings,
mobilized combat air and naval patrols, and deployed defense missile systems to
track the Chinese warplanes.
An ADIZ is a self-declared area in which a country claims the right to identify, locate and control approaching foreign aircraft but is not part of its territorial airspace as defined by international law.
The number of Chinese military aircraft detected near Taiwan in a 24-hour-period broke the record set in April, when 91 warplanes flew close to Taiwan between 6 a.m. on April 10 and 6 a.m. the next day.
The MND said that
ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was key to maintaining
security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, which is the responsibility
of all stakeholders, including Beijing.
Beijing should
shoulder its responsibility and immediately stop its "unilateral military
harassment," as such actions could escalate tensions, erode regional
peace, and disrupt regional stability, the MND said.
Meanwhile, Chieh
Chung, an associate research fellow at the National Policy Foundation in
Taipei, told CNA that July to September is usually the most active time of year
for Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) drills, and he suspected that the
record 103 warplanes were part of a PLA exercise on the open seas.
Chieh said he did not
think the incursions were meant to coincide with the meeting between China's
Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to United
States President Joe Biden, in Malta last weekend. If that were the case, it
would expose a lack of coordination between China's foreign affairs and
military branches, he said.
During the multiple
meetings between Wang and Sullivan on Sept. 16 and 17, they held "candid,
substantive and constructive" talks, according to separate statements
released Sunday by the U.S. White House and the Chinese foreign ministry. (By
Joseph Yeh / CNA)
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