FLASH NEWS
China "encircles" Taiwan, 19 warships near the island's coast
2025-04-01 11:38:32 / BOTA
Taiwan has sounded the alarm after it was once again surrounded by the Chinese military. This comes as Beijing has launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, the latest round in Beijing's escalating campaign to assert its claims to sovereignty and suppress the island nation's efforts to maintain its de facto independence.
The drills began as Taiwan's President Lai Ching seeks to improve military and civilian preparedness for a possible Chinese attack and strengthen society to defend against espionage and other infiltration from China, which he last month called a "hostile foreign force."
The People's Liberation Army said naval, air, ground and missile forces were practicing "taking full control, attacks on naval and land targets and blockade operations."
China's Coast Guard also announced "law enforcement patrols," which it said would exercise inspection, interception and detention of "unwarranted vessels."
Tuesday's movements appeared to include the most comprehensive naval maneuvers yet. According to Taiwan's defense ministry, 19 PLA ships operated in waters near Taiwan between Monday and Tuesday morning.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong entered the Taiwanese military's response zone on Monday, a self-declared zone that extends beyond its territorial waters and airspace, where the armed forces monitor and shadow foreign military movements.
China's coast guard called its exercises "concrete actions to exercise legitimate jurisdiction and control over the island in accordance with the one-China principle." It released a map showing at least three flotillas operating around Taiwan.
A senior Taiwanese security official told Reuters that Beijing needed to avoid any "perceived confrontation" with Washington ahead of US-China trade talks, and so Taiwan has become a pretext.
"Taiwan is their best excuse. That's why they chose to launch such military exercises as soon as the US secretary of defense left Asia," the Taiwanese official said.
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