Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported increased Chinese military activity on Monday, with 41 aircraft, 9 PLAN boats, and 1 government ship observed moving throughout the island.
The MND reported that they were identified until 6 AM (UTC+8) in a post on social media. MND said that 28 of the 41 aircraft had entered Taiwan’s northern, central, and southwestern ADIZ after crossing the median line.
“41 PLA aircraft, 9 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 28 out of 41 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central and southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded.”
In the meantime, Beijing reaffirmed its stance on Taiwan after two US ships recently passed through the Taiwan Strait, highlighting that Taiwan is an unalienable part of China’s territory and declaring that it “opposes any country challenging or threatening China’s sovereignty and security under the pretext of freedom of navigation.”
Guo Jiakun, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, stated during a routine news conference on Wednesday:that he wants to emphasize that Taiwan is an unalienable part of China’s territory. The Taiwan issue affects China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity but has nothing to do with freedom of navigation.
He continued that China adamantly opposes any nation that threatens or challenges China’s security and sovereignty under the guise of freedom of navigation.
With the acquisition of new naval hardware in recent weeks, China has clearly expanded its ability to launch amphibious attacks on Taiwan’s beaches. This involves the mass manufacturing of floating bridge docks to facilitate ship unloading during beach landings and the official introduction of a special advanced landing helicopter attack (LHA) vessel.
The long-standing geopolitical dispute between China and Taiwan has been centered on Taiwan’s sovereignty. Beijing viewed Taiwan as a breakaway province under the “One China” policy, even though it operated as a de facto sovereign state with its own government, military, and economy.
