As China increases its gray zone tactics against Taiwan, Taipei has declared that it will dispatch military aircraft and ships to counter Chinese military activities near its borders.
Chiu Kuo-cheng, Taiwan Defence Minister, said that Beijing is carrying out electronic warfare and surveillance but Taiwan has countermeasures in place.
The country’s emergency planning takes into consideration the effect on future monitoring and counter-reconnaissance missions, he added. The military is able to manage any threat that appears, Chiu stressed.
From mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its gray-zone tactics by constantly sending planes into Taiwan`s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), with most situations occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually consisting of one to three slow-flying turboprop planes.
For the past few months, Taiwan has reported attack by Chinese warplanes into ADIZ almost daily.
In the meantime, China has said its military activities in the Taiwan Strait were targeted at “separatists” in Taiwan and “external forces”.”[We] have made full preparation in addressing the separatist activities of Taiwan independence and the interference of external forces,” South China Morning Post quoted Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian, as saying.
Beijing demands full freedom over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
On the other hand, Taipei, has countered the Chinese invasion by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been frequently opposed by Beijing. China has warned that “Taiwan`s independence” means war.
Recently, China has sent three warships, including a large amphibious assault ship, adding them to the fleet covering the South China Sea.
According to the Global Times newspaper, which is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, reported that the ships were the country`s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship, a large destroyer, and a nuclear-powered strategic ballistic missile submarine.
Countries like Japan and the US have spoken about the need for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
At the beginning of this month, in their first in-person meeting at the White House, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden said in their joint statement that they “underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and “encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues.
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