12 Chinese aircraft, 5 ships spotted around Taiwan: MoD

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 May 08:17
1 Shares

Taiwan's Defense Ministry says three PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait media and entered the island's so-called "ADIZ".

A Chinese naval fleet comprised of the guided-missile destroyers Ningbo (Hull 139) and Taiyuan (Hull 131), as well as the guided-missile frigate Nantong (Hull 601), in waters of the East China Sea during a maritime training drill in late January 2021 (PLA)

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Thursday that within the past 24 hours, 12 Chinese aircraft and five ships were spotted around the island.

"12 PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond these activities," the Ministry said on Twitter.

"3 of the detected aircraft(Y-8 RECCE, BZK-005 UAV RECCE & WZ-7 UAV RECCE) had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ, flight paths as illustrated," it added in another tweet.

3 of the detected aircraft(Y-8 RECCE, BZK-005 UAV RECCE & WZ-7 UAV RECCE) had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ, flight paths as illustrated.
— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) May 11, 2023

China has repeatedly expressed its firm will to fight against "Taiwan’s independence" and promote reunification of the island with the homeland.

In April, China conducted a three-day massive military drill around Taiwan dubbed "Sharp Sword", in a stern warning to the Taiwanese government following a meeting between the island's leader and the US House speaker Kevin McCarthy then.

The exercise included rehearsals on an encirclement of the Island off the coast of China.

Despite the fact that Washington cut diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979, the US continues to send a small number of military trainers to Taiwan and militarize the island through arms sales.

During the same month, US Indo-Pacific Command dispatched more than 200 troops to Taiwan to allegedly help the island's armed forces with training as Washington further breaches Beijing's "One China" policy and escalates tensions in the Asian giant's vicinity.

In the most recent US provocation of Beijing, a Bloomberg report said last week that US President Joe Biden will tap into his executive powers to fast-track a $500 million military package that is being prepared for Taiwan and will be supplied from US military stocks.