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Military activity around Taiwan is escalating by the both sides. Taiwan began to monitor the aircraft of the PLAAF (People’s Liberation Army Air Force). Taiwan’s armed forces sent aircraft, broadcasted radio warnings to vessels in the waters near Taiwan, and deployed air defense missiles to the Taiwan Strait.
Within 15 days, China’s aircraft entered Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) many times. The last incident took place on March 27. Aircraft (Xian H-6 bomber and Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft) were detected in the southwestern and southeastern corners of Taiwan’s ADIZ.
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So far this month, 48 Chinese military aircraft have been tracked in Taiwan’s identification zone, including 30 fighter jets, 4 bombers, 10 spotter planes, and 4 helicopters.
The Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense published the map showing the flight trajectories of China’s aircraft.
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Some days ago, a spokesman for the China’s Ministry of National Defense, Wu Qian commented on the statement of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, which linked the Ukrainian case with the Taiwan question.
He emphasized: «Taiwan is not Ukraine, as the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair that brooks no foreign interference. No individual or force can stand in the way of China’s reunification».
Beijing claimed its readiness to stop all provocations that undermine China’s core interests and destabilize the Taiwan Strait.
Chen Ming-tong, director general of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, said China was trying to continue a 2005 law giving China the legal basis for military actions. He drew an analogy with a timetable of Deng Xioping era, when China had tried to reunite the island with the mainland. In 2013, Xi Jinping said that the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty could not be postponed forever, through there was not a timetable. Chen also added, China’s military actions could lead to pressure on Beijing from the international community.
The U.S. reported that Chinese officials had ramped up a campaign to force UN, governments, companies and schools to recognize Taiwan as a part of China. In the announced «no limits» partnership, which was proclaimed on February 4, Russia supported China’s «One China» principle («Democratic island of Taiwan is a part of China»). The American side provides defensive equipment to Taiwan, but maintains «strategic ambiguity» and does not plan to take part in any military campaign.
Taiwan officials are also concerned about the signing of an agreement between China and Solomon Islands on security issues, as this would be a serious problem for other states in the Asia-Pacific region. The New Zealand government considered such actions as potential militarization of the region.
