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Taiwan was reported by a a sharp increase in Chinese military activity near its territory, with about 90 Navy and Coast Guard ships positioned in nearby waters.
Tensions have risen in the Taiwan Strait since President Lai Ching-te went on a diplomatic tour which includes a stopover in the US.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Tuesday that 47 Chinese military aircraft had operated near the island in the previous 24 hours, along with 12 navy ships and nine civilian agency ships.
At least 26 aircraft were seen north of the nearby island Chinain Zhejiang province, 15 flew around the southwest and six over the Taiwan Strait.
China’s military activities were aimed at sending a message not only to Taiwan but also to other countries in the region, a Taiwanese official told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that the number of Chinese ships around the island was “very alarming”.
Another Taiwanese security official told the news agency that the plane simulated attacks on foreign naval vessels and practiced repelling civilian and military aircraft as part of a “blockade exercise.”
China has deployed ships from his northern, eastern and southern theater commands, the official said, whose number now exceeds 60.
Taiwan’s coast guard reported that at least seven Chinese vessels were conducting “gray zone harassment” during the day. The tactic, described as deliberate provocation without confrontation, involves regular military incursions from the air and sea. Wang Ting-yu, head of Taiwan’s parliamentary committee on defense and foreign affairs, called for Beijing to behave like a “civilized neighbor” and to stop “making problems”.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense activated combat readiness exercises and warned that unilateral provocations could destabilize peace in the region. “The international community will not welcome such actions,” the statement said.
China’s ongoing military activity coincides with the establishment of seven temporary no-fly zones near its eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, prompting speculation of further exercises or weapons testing. The restrictions are in effect until Wednesday. However, Beijing has not yet announced any concrete drills, and its defense ministry has not commented.
Without a Chinese announcement describing the nature of the military activities, Taiwanese officials are describing it as a training exercise, said Taiwanese Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-sheng.
He added that “training” can develop into exercises, and exercises can become war.
“It is in the status of regular training,” he said at a press conference. “But under the status of normalized training, it is able to mobilize military forces on such a large scale and conduct exercises over such a large area.”
The US State Department, meanwhile, urged China to exercise restraint. “President Lai’s routine transit should not be used as an excuse for military pressure,” the spokesman said on Monday.
Western observers have expressed concern about the scale of China’s deployment, which a Taiwanese official said targeted an entire chain of islands stretching from Japan to Borneo. The move, they claimed, was aimed at “military intimidation” and establishing control over critical waterways.
Beijing’s military posture over Taiwan in recent years has raised fears of conflict in the region.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking to sailors in Japan, stressed the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation and maintaining an international “rules-based order”.
“And that’s why we want this region, this area to remain open to freedom of navigation and the ability to fly the skies and international airways whenever we want to,” he said.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, condemned President Lai as a “separatist”. Taiwan’s government maintains that its sovereignty is a matter for its people to decide.
Additional agency reporting