Taiwan says detected 47 Chinese aircraft, 12 navy vessels ahead of major military drills

Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) says Chinese military activities have increased significantly in the past 24 hours in the waters north of Taiwan, in one of Beijing's biggest-ever military exercises. 

In a statement on Tuesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said that it had detected at least 47 Chinese aircraft and 12 warships near the self-ruled island in the past 24 hours to 6:00 a.m. local time (2200 GMT).

It stressed that this had been the highest number spotted since China launched large-scale military drills two months ago.

The Chinese deployment comes as Taiwan President Lai Ching-te visited the United States last week.

Separately, an unnamed senior Taiwanese security official told AFP that Taipei had detected “nearly 90” Chinese naval and coast guard vessels in waters along the so-called first island chain, which links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines.

A day earlier, Taiwan's defense ministry said that its forces were on high alert following sightings of Chinese warships and coast guard vessels near the island, as well as China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) reserving airspace off China's east coast.

China has staged four large-scale military exercises in just over two years.

"It can indeed be said that the scale of these maritime forces exceeds the four drills since 2022," Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters on Tuesday.

Also on Monday, a spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry stressed that China would “resolutely defend” its sovereignty as Taiwan began its own military drills.

‘Current China's military activities not only meant for Taiwan’

A senior Taiwanese officer said on Tuesday that China's current military activities in the region are not only meant for Taiwan but also for other countries in the region.

He said the number of Chinese naval forces and coast guard ships was "very alarming".

US approves $385 million in weapons sales to Taiwan

The United States has agreed with the sales of US-made weapons to Taiwan despite Beijing’s opposition to Washington’s continued militarization of the island.

China views Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) as an inseparable part of its territory under the “One China policy” and virtually all countries of the world, including the United States, recognize the Chinese sovereignty over the self-ruled island.

Beijing has regularly protested the US sales of weaponry to Taipei, slamming Washington for backing secessionist advocates in Taiwan. Beijing sees ties with Taipei as meddling in Chinese domestic affairs.

Back on Friday, China's foreign ministry cautioned Taiwan that pursuing independence with US support would “inevitably fail” and urged Washington to stop “interfering in Taiwan-related matters.”

Beijing has time and again said that it will use force, if necessary, to add Taiwan to China’s mainland.

In October, China’s military launched military drills around Taiwan, calling the large-scale exercises a “stern warning” to the “separatist acts” of Taiwan’s pro-independence forces.

China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the exercises, code-named Joint Sword-2024B, were intended “to test the joint operations capabilities of the theater command's troops.”

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