Taiwan denounces new incursion by Chinese aircraft after maneuvers end
Taiwan denounced on Tuesday the incursion of 26 Chinese planes and 9 Chinese ships. in areas around the island, despite the fact that Beijing announced on Monday the end of the maneuvers carried out by its army, according to the official CNA agency.
The source, citing the Taiwanese Defense Ministry, added that 14 of the Chinese aircraft crossed the midline of the Formosa Strait.which in practice is an unofficial border tacitly respected by Taipei and Beijing in recent decades.
China announced Saturday three days of maneuvers around the island in response to the meeting last Wednesday in California between the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wenand the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
Tsai assured this Monday night on the social network Facebook that as president. represents her country “before the world”and that his visits abroad are not new and that this is what the Taiwanese expect him to do.
“However, China used this to launch military exercisescausing instability in Taiwan and the region. This is not a responsible attitude,” he said.
China concluded on Monday its maneuvers with a simulation of the blockade of the island. and with the anticipated participation of the Shandong, the Asian country’s second aircraft carrier.
Beijing calls the maneuvers a “success”.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense announced the “complete success” of the exercises, according to spokesman Shi Yi, who assured that the forces are “ready to decisively crush any form of separatism and attempts at foreign interference.”
For their part, Chinese foreign spokesmen have assured in the past few days that the “greatest threat to peace in Taiwan”. are “separatist activities and collusion with foreign forces,” and that the maneuvers were “necessary to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province since the Kuomintang nationalists retreated there in 1949 after losing the civil war against the Communist army.
In recent weeks there has been friction between Taipei and Beijing. as a result of Tsai’s meeting with McCarthy, but also because of Honduras’ severing of relations with Taiwan to establish them later with China, which reduced the number of the island’s diplomatic allies to 13.
