China maintains air, sea pressure on Taiwan but reduces activity in recent days

Beijing, Sep 20 (EFE).- Taiwan’s national defense ministry in recent hours recorded 15 Chinese aircrafts and six warships around the island, a number significantly lower than in the past two days.

As in previous days, the Taiwanese Armed Forces “have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond these activities,” the military said on X on Wednesday.

On Monday, Taipei reported a record number of incursions by the Chinese Army, with 103 aircraft and nine ships around the island.

Two of the planes reported in the 24-hour period to 6am Wednesday morning crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the Taiwan’s north or southwest Air Defense Identification Zone, the ministry said.

The median line is an unofficial demarcation tacitly accepted by Taipei and Beijing in recent decades but which Chinese fighters have been increasingly crossing in the past year – routinely in recent months.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday claimed there is no such thing as a median line because Taiwan is part of Chinese territory, the Associated Press reported.

After Monday’s record day, the Taiwan national defense ministry denounced China’s “military harassment,” warned that its armed forces remain alert and prepared to face any contingency, and urged Beijing to “take responsibility and immediately stop such destructive unilateral actions.”

Taiwan has been governed autonomously since 1949, although China claims sovereignty over the island, considering it a rebel province for which it has not ruled out “reunification” by use of force. EFE

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