Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday that the threat of force from China remains, but the largest military exercises ever conducted by Beijing around the island have come to an end.
Angered by the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last week, China has launched ballistic missiles and deployed several aircraft and warships in recent days to simulate sea and air strikes.
China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory, said it would resume patrols Wednesday but “completed several missions” near Taiwan, signaling a possible end to its war games even if the crackdown continues.
Taiwan also holds relatively small-scale annual exercises planned ahead of the controversial visit, aimed at preparing to repel an invasion.
“At this time, the threat of Chinese military power has not subsided,” Tsai told Air Force officials, according to a statement from his office.
Taiwan will not escalate conflict or provoke disagreements, he said, “We will firmly defend our sovereignty and national security, and we will stick to the line of defense for democracy and freedom.”
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the number of warships near the midline of the Taiwan Strait, which is an unofficial protected zone, has “decreased considerably” compared to previous days.
But a source familiar with security planning said on Thursday several Chinese navy ships are conducting missions off Taiwan’s east coast and near the Japanese island of Yonaguni.
Yonaguni is the closest Japanese island to Taiwan, about 100 km away.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday it has detected 21 Chinese military aircraft and six Chinese ships in and around the Taiwan Strait, with 11 of them crossing the midline.
This was lower than the 36 aircraft and 10 ships detected the previous day when 17 aircraft crossed the center line.
Taiwan has been threatened by Chinese invasion since 1949, when the defeated Nationalist Republic of China government fled to the island after Mao Zedong’s Communist Party won a civil war.
China says its relations with Taiwan are a domestic matter and reserves the right to forcibly take the island under its control if necessary.
Taiwan’s democratically elected government claims that the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the island, so it has no right to decide its future or claim it for itself.
source: Noticias
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