China sends warplanes, warships near Taiwan as PLA drills enter 2nd day
ROC Central News Agency
04/09/2023 01:40 PM
Taipei, April 9 (CNA) The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) continued sending warplanes and warships to conduct drills around Taiwan on Sunday as its three-day, around-the-island exercises entered their second day, according to Taiwan's military.
The PLA's ongoing drills were launched on Saturday in response to President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5 (U.S. time) during a stopover in California at the tail end of her 10-day overseas trip to visit Taiwan's allies in Central America.
Among the Chinese military planes detected were an undisclosed number of Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jets, Shenyang J-11 and J-16D fighter jets, and KJ-500 airborne early warning and control planes, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a statement.
As of noon Sunday, a total of 31 warplanes and 9 warships either crossed the Taiwan Strait median line or flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the MND said, without providing any further breakdown of the routes.
The ministry said the nation's armed forces were monitoring the situation, and that they will remain on constant high alert while making every effort to defend the country's sovereignty and national security.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's armed forces are also keeping close tabs on the latest activities of the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF) through its joint intelligence and surveillance system, in case the PLA conducts live-fire rocket and missiles drills in nearby waters, the MND added.
Graphic courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Tsai's meeting with McCarthy was the third time that a Taiwanese president had met with a U.S. House speaker since the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) and the United States ended official diplomatic relations in 1979.
The last time was when then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. The first such meeting occurred in 1997 when then House Speaker Newt Gingrich met with Taiwan's then President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in Taipei.
The Tsai-McCarthy meet was the first such meeting on U.S. soil.
Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory, has objected to the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy, warning that it would take "resolute measures" to protect Chinese sovereignty.
Last week, the PLA's Eastern Theater Command announced the "Joint Sword" exercises in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the sea and air regions to the north, south, and east of Taiwan from Saturday to Monday.
According to China's state-run CCTV, the first day of the exercise focused on "testing the task force capabilities in seizing the control of the sea, air and information under the support of the joint combat system, as the forces simultaneously pushed forward to encircle the island, creating a suppressive situation in which the island is surrounded from all directions."
So far, the drills have been conducted in international waters or mainland China's territorial waters, not Taiwan's territorial waters.
As part of the drill, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong (山東艦) is on what is expected to be long-range training exercises about 200 nautical miles east of Taiwan.
In addition to the PLA drills, China's Fujian Maritime Safety Administration has also announced that it will hold live-fire exercises in China's territorial waters near Luoyuan Bay in Fujian Province, which is located about 300 kilometers west of Taiwan, on Saturday, as well as next week on April 11, 13, 15, 17 and 20 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
(By Joseph Yeh)
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