China condemns flight of US military plane through Taiwan Strait

Beijing, Jun 25 (EFE).- A United States P-8A military plane flew over the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese Army reported Saturday on its official Weibo social media account.

Command spokesman Shi Yi wrote about the army’s “firm opposition” to the Friday flight and said forces in the area “remain on high alert at all times” to defend China’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Shi said the army organized “ground and air forces” to monitor “all operations” of the US aircraft, an anti-submarine maritime patrol plane.

The spokesman accused the US of “deliberately disturbing the regional situation and endangering peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” with its actions.

This week, Chinese military planes flew over what Taiwan considers its Air Defense Identification Zone on the eve of the NATO and G7 summits, which the Chinese state press described Thursday as “potential creators of turbulence” in the Asia-Pacific region.

Chinese military aircraft entering the Taiwanese airspace began to increase sharply in late 2021, causing relations between Taipei and Beijing to go through their worst moment in four decades since.

Likewise, China described as “provocations” the passage of US military planes and ships through the Taiwan Strait in recent months and the recognition last year by the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, that the United States has a military presence on the island “to train Taiwanese troops.”

The island, considered by China to be a rebellious province for whose reunification it has not ruled out the use of force, is one of the main reasons for the conflict between the Asian giant and the United States. This is above all because Washington is Taiwan’s main supplier of military weapons and would be its greatest military ally in the event of a war with China. EFE

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