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MORE CHINESE MILITARY AIRCRAFT CROSSING MIDDLE LINE OF TAIWAN STRAIT

ROC Central News Agency

2006-08-29 19:15:39

    Taipei, Aug. 29 (CNA) A large number of Chinese military aircraft and frigates have been detected crossing the middle line of the Taiwan Strait or trespassing into Taiwan's exclusive economic zone over the past decade, according to a report released Tuesday by the Ministry of National Defense.

    The 2006 National Defense Report said that the Chinese military has been expanding the scope of its activity since Taiwan held its first popular presidential election in 1996.

    While Chinese military aircraft crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait on 1,100 occasions in 1999, the frequency increased to 1,200 in 2000 and further to 1,500 in 2001, the report said.

    The frequency dropped to 1,300 in 2002 and further to 940 in 2004 but soared to 1,700 in 2005, the report said.

    It said that over the last three years, Chinese scientific research vessels have been increasing their activity in the Taiwan Strait, with more than 20 such cruises recorded per year on average, including many in which they trespassed into Taiwan's territorial waters.

    Chinese military frigates have appeared frequently in the Taiwan Strait to gather sea and air intelligence and test the response time of the ROC Navy and Air Force, the report said.

    Over the past several years, China has repeatedly sent oceanographic survey ships to Japan's exclusive economic zone for hydrographic study, with 30 such cruises recorded in 2003, the report said.

    In November 2003, a Chinese Ming-class submarine was found surfacing near Japan's Kyushu Island, and in November 2004, a Chinese Han-class nuclear-powered submarine was discovered in Japan's territorial waters, the report said.

    From April to September 2005, Japan's Air Force intercepted 30 Chinese planes trying to enter the country's air space, according to the report.

    The report reasoned that the Chinese Navy has been increasing its intelligence-gathering activities in the East China Sea in a bid to ensure sea and air dominance to prevent intervention by the United States or Japan in the event of a war in the Taiwan Strait.

(By Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li