China’s threat of force has not abated, but Taiwan will not escalate the conflict or provoke disputes, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday, while a source told Reuters the number of warships in the Strait of Taiwan was “very reduced”.
Furious over a visit to Taiwan last week by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China had already extended its biggest-ever exercises around the island it claims as its own beyond the originally scheduled four days.
China’s military said on Wednesday it had “completed various tasks” around Taiwan but will carry out regular patrols, signaling a possible end to wargaming days but also that Beijing will keep up the pressure on the island.
Last week’s Chinese exercises included launching ballistic missiles, some of which flew over the island’s capital, Taipei, and simulated air and sea attacks in the surrounding skies and waters.
Taiwan has also been carrying out relatively small-scale annual exercises, scheduled before tensions escalate and intended to prepare its forces to repel an invasion. Tsai visited Air Force headquarters on Thursday to speak with officials.
“Currently, the threat from Chinese military force has not abated,” Tsai told officials, according to a statement from her office.
Tsai again stressed that Taiwan would not escalate conflict or provoke disputes, her office added.
“We will firmly defend our sovereignty and national security and adhere to the line of defense of democracy and freedom.”
No more than 10 Chinese and Taiwanese naval vessels came close to the midline of the Taiwan Strait as of Thursday afternoon, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that the number was “quite reduced” from previous days.
Several Chinese navy ships were carrying out missions off the east coast of Taiwan and near the Japanese island of Yonaguni, said the source familiar with security planning in areas near Taiwan.
Yonaguni is the closest Japanese island to Taiwan, about 100 km away.
Several Chinese fighter jets briefly crossed the unofficial barrier separating China and Taiwan in the strait on Thursday, the source added.
Source: CNN Brasil
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