Chinese Warship
Taipei said that China sent warships and aircraft near Taiwan for a second day on Friday after President Tsai Ing-wen angered Beijing by meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said, “Three Chinese warships sailed in the waters surrounding the self-ruled island, while a fighter jet and an anti-submarine helicopter also flew through the island’s air defence identification zone”.
On Wednesday, hours before Tsai’s meeting with McCarthy in Los Angeles, China’s Shandong aircraft carrier, one of two in its naval fleet, sailed through Taiwan’s southeastern waters on its way to the western Pacific.
Beijing has repeatedly warned against the meeting and reiterated on Thursday that it would take forceful measures to safeguard national sovereignty firmly.
Tsai told the media before leaving Los Angeles, where she was stopping on her way back from Latin America, that her government was committed to ensuring the free and democratic way of life of the people of Taiwan.
“We also hope to do our best to keep the two sides at peace and stable”, she added.
Following a visit to the island by McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, China deployed warships, missiles, and fighter jets around Taiwan in August for its largest show of force in years.
Its reaction to the Tsai-McCarthy meeting has been much more subdued, but it has kept Taiwan on high alert.
Premier Chen Chien-Jen said on Friday that Taiwan’s defence and security agencies were closely monitoring developments and urged the public to ‘remain calm’.
Three warships were detected in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, according to the defence ministry, and one Chinese naval helicopter crossed the island’s ADIZ.
The display prompted the US to call China to “end its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure on Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful diplomacy”.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, “We remain committed to maintaining open channels of communication in order to avoid any kind of miscalculation”.
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