Taiwan mobilized its armed forces today to "defend freedom and democracy" and "protect" its sovereignty against China, which has launched a new round of military maneuvers around the island.
In a statement, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) expressed its "strong condemnation" of Beijing's "provocative and irrational actions" that "increase tension and undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."
"In the face of threats, the armed forces are on high alert, with the firm resolve to prepare for war without seeking it, confront it without avoiding it," it added.
Taiwan's leader, William Lai, called a meeting on national security "to quickly discuss the appropriate response" to the maneuvers, according to a statement from Taiwan's Presidential Office.
During the meeting, Defence Minister Wellington Koo called on all military personnel to “increase vigilance, strengthen supervision and coordinate closely with units such as the Coast Guard”, acting with a “broad perspective” so as “not to escalate the conflict or provoke disputes”.
“Cognitive deterrence and social division actions, combined with military actions against us, are common tactics of the communist army. The Ministry of Defence will properly disclose the maritime and air dynamics, explaining the measures that the army will take, always under the premise of ensuring operational security”, he added.
The Taiwan Coast Guard also sent several patrol boats today, in response to the presence of Chinese vessels near the island, hours after Beijing announced a new round of military manoeuvres around Taiwan.
In a statement, the Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA) said that "the intimidating and threatening actions" by the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) "have seriously affected the peace in the Taiwan Strait and regional stability, with the intention of disrupting the status quo."
"The Coast Guard is fully prepared and will firmly defend the maritime borders and national sovereignty. Commercial and fishing vessels transiting the area have also been warned to be extremely vigilant," said the CGA, which is "closely" monitoring the situation in collaboration with Taiwan's Defense Ministry.
The agency also said it had detected "abnormal movements" by Chinese Coast Guard vessels since 11:00 a.m. (04:00 Lisbon time) on Sunday.
"In addition to several vessels that crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait - an unofficial border that has been respected for decades - formations of vessels were detected in waters north, southwest and east of our island," the CGA said.
"The Coast Guard immediately established a response center and mobilized patrol boats to coordinate surveillance in conjunction with the Ministry of National Defense," the official statement added.
Chinese Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun said in a statement that the CCG's 2901, 1305, 1303 and 2102 formations conducted "law enforcement patrols" in waters near Taiwan today, which constitutes "a practical action to manage and control the island in accordance with the 'one China' principle."
The Chinese maritime authority also carried out "extensive inspections" in the Matsu archipelago, islands controlled by Taiwan located a few kilometers from the Chinese coast, with the aim of "assessing rapid response and emergency management capabilities", according to another statement from the agency.
The deployment of these vessels comes hours after China announced military exercises near Taiwan, called Joint Sword-2024B, in which it will replicate the blockade and seizure of ports and key areas of the island, as well as attacks on naval and land targets.
The maneuvers involve land, sea, air and missile forces and are similar to those that China carried out last May, also in the Taiwan Strait and around the autonomous territory over which Beijing claims sovereignty.
Today's action is the fifth time that China has resorted to this type of maneuver since 2022, the year in which it carried out the first of this caliber in response to the visit of the then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan, which infuriated Beijing and raised tensions between the two sides of the strait to levels not seen in decades.
No comments:
Post a Comment