The ministry also said it detected four drones – in three separate batches – flying over “restricted waters” around the Kinmen islands, a group of Taiwan-controlled outlying islands close to China, on Thursday night local time. In addition, the ministry said that 22 Chinese warplanes had entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday, and that all of them crossed the strait median line. Within hours of her departure from Taipei on Wednesday, the island’s Defense Ministry said China sent more than 20 fighter jets across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, the midway point between the mainland and Taiwan that Beijing says it does not recognize but usually respects. The military posturing was a deliberate show of force after Pelosi left the island on Wednesday evening, bound for South Korea, one of the final stops on an Asia tour that ends in Japan this weekend. Later Thursday, images showed military helicopters flying past Pingtan island, one of Taiwan’s closest points to mainland China. “Using the surveillance and reconnaissance systems, our military can accurately calculate the trajectory of the Dong Feng-series missiles fired by the Chinese Communist Party,” it said.īecause it was predicted that the missiles would land in the waters east of Taiwan, authorities did not trigger air raid alerts, it said.Ĭhinese state media said that exercises to simulate an air and sea “blockade” around Taiwan had started Wednesday, but offered little solid evidence to back up the claim. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said in a statement late Thursday night that the trajectory of the missiles was above the atmosphere and therefore posed no risk to Taiwan. “We hit the targets under the observation of US Aegis combat system, which means the Chinese military has solved the difficulties of hitting long-range targets on waters,” Meng said on CCTV. Meng Xiangqing, a professor of strategy at the National Defense University in Beijing. The conventional missiles flew over airspace covered by Taiwanese defense missiles, said Maj. (Photo by An Rong Xu/Getty Images) An Rong Xu/Getty Images/FILEĭoes Taiwan have its own airspace? China sets military drills close to island after Pelosi visit Wartime anti-tank barricades litter the beach and also features the Zhaishan tunnel, which Taiwanese forces still reserve the right to use in wartime and for military exercises. It is one of the few areas of Taiwan that mainland Chinese tourists can visit without visas or permits, and has deep ties with the adjacent Fujian province of China locals have seen a boost to their incomes from Chinese tourism in pre-pandemic times. Kinmen, an island in the Taiwan strait that is part of Taiwan's territory, is so close to China that the deep-water port of Xiamen, one of China's biggest, lies less than three miles away across the water. KINMEN, TAIWAN - FEBRUARY 02: A view of the South China Sea between the city of Xiamen in China, in the far distance, and the islands of Kinmen in Taiwan, in the foreground, on Februas seen from the airspace above Kinmen, Taiwan. The Chinese missiles flew over Taiwan Island for the first time, a Chinese military expert said on state television channel CCTV on Thursday, representing a major escalation of China’s military intimidation against Taiwan. It later said a total of 11 Dongfeng (DF) missiles were fired to the waters north, south and east of the island between 1:56 p.m. Taiwan reported Chinese long-range rockets had fallen near its islands of Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin, which are in the Taiwan Strait, but located closer to the mainland than the main island of Taiwan. Earlier, the Eastern Theater Command said it had conducted long-range, live-fire training in the Taiwan Strait, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as part of planned military exercises around the island. “The entire live-fire training mission has been successfully completed and the relevant air and sea area control is now lifted,” China’s statement said. It said all the missiles hit their target accurately. The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that multiple missiles had been fired into the sea off the eastern part of Taiwan. China fired multiple missiles toward waters near northeastern and southwestern Taiwan on Thursday, the island’s Defense Ministry said, as Beijing makes good on its promise that Taipei will pay a price for hosting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |