Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence announced on Saturday that Chinese Military Aircraft & Naval Vessels had executed an additional ‘combat patrol’ operation in proximity to the island. This announcement follows Beijing’s pronounced of retaliatory measures in response to a $ 2 Billion arms procurement agreement recently sanctioned by the United States.
Despite the lack of formal and official diplomatic relations, the US is obliged by law to provide the Chinese claimed Taiwan means to safeguard itself from potential Chinese aggression,irking Beijing.The Pentagon said on Friday the United States had approved a potential $2 billion arms sale package to Taiwan, which includes the inaugural delivery of an advanced air defence missile system, battled tested in Ukraine to the island.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry confirmed the detection of 19 Chinese Military Aircraft, including Su-30 Fighter Jets, carrying out a ‘Joint Combat Readiness Patrol’ in Taiwan’s neighboring aerospace in conjunction with Chinese warships starting on Sunday morning.It said the Chinese aircraft flew in airspace to the north, center, southwest and east of Taiwan, and that Taiwanese forces were dispatched to keep watch. Earlier this month, Taiwan detected a record 153 Chinese aircraft in one day.
The Defence Ministry of China didn’t respond to calls seeking comments on the issue beyond regular office hours. It has been observed that China generally stages such patrols around Taiwan several times a month, but this was the first since Beijing held a new round of full-blown war games near the island this month.
In a communique released late Saturday, the Chinese Ministry of External Affairs expressed its unequivocal denunciation & staunch opposition to the recent US amrs transactions, affirming that it had formally submitted “solemn representations” to the authorities at Washington. China has asked the US to immediately put a hiatus on its arms transactions with Taiwan and stop it’s dangerous moves provoking regional tensions and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it added. The Ministry asserted without much elaboration that China will take resolute countermeasures and take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard it’s national sovereignty & territorial integrity.
It is worth mentioning here that China has over the past five years upscaled it’s military footprint around democratically governed Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims. Taiwan on the contrary has warmly welcomed the new arms sale, the 17th under the presidentship of Joe Biden.
Confronted with escalating threats from China, Taiwan remains unequivocally obligated to defend its sovereign territory & shall persist in manifesting it’s unwavering resolve for self-defense, declared Taiwan’s Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday responding to the recent arms transactions.
Its important to note that in September however, Beijing sanctioned U.S. defence companies in retaliation for Washington’s approval of the sale of military equipment to Taiwan.
