Taiwan claims to have again detected Chinese military movements near its coasts

Taiwan has once again detected Chinese military movements near its coasts. In a press release published Thursday September 14, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense reports that “68 People’s Liberation Army aircraft and 10 Chinese navy ships detected” between Wednesday and Thursday morning around the island. The day before, Wednesday, Taipei had claimed to have already detected 35 war planes.

According to the Defense Ministry, some planes and ships were heading to the Western Pacific to join the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong as part of a “joint maritime and air training”. The Shandong is one of two operational aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet. It was detected Monday about 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) southeast of the southernmost point of the island.

Repeated military incursions

Beijing has so far not commented on these maneuvers. But the Chinese Western Military Region Command, which is organizing the exercises around Taiwan, said Wednesday that a “air unit” had carried out training “recently”, within a radius of several “thousands of kilometers”, without mentioning the island.

On Saturday, a Chinese military spokesperson said that Chinese soldiers remained “constantly on high alert” after the passage of two American and Canadian ships through the Taiwan Strait. China has intensified its threats and political and economic pressure on Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, who considers the island independent.