Eight Chinese warplanes approach waters controlled by Taiwan
by AFP Staff Writers
Taipei (AFP) June 24, 2023

Taiwan's defence ministry said Saturday that eight Chinese warplanes had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and come close to waters under Taipei's control.

Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by China, which views the self-ruled island as part of its territory to be seized one day.

On Saturday, Taiwan's defence ministry said 19 Chinese warplanes including J-10 and J-16 fighters were detected around the island.

Eight of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and approached the island's contiguous zone, or the band of sea within 24 nautical miles (44 kilometres) of its coast, the ministry said in a statement.

"Additionally, five PLAN (Chinese navy) vessels conducted joint combat patrol," it continued, adding that it was closely monitoring the situation and had deployed its patrol aircraft and vessels in response.

Beijing has ramped up incursions into Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in recent years as relations between the two sides have plunged.

Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng warned in March that Beijing could use a potential visit by US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as an excuse to cross into Taiwan's contiguous zone and approach its territorial space, defined as being within 12 nautical miles of the coast.

McCarthy instead met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California in April, prompting China to launch three days of military exercises around the island that included simulating targeted strikes and practising a blockade.

On the final day of the drills, Taiwan detected 12 Chinese warships and 91 aircraft around the island, with 54 planes entering its southwestern and southeastern ADIZ.

The ADIZ is not the same as Taiwan's territorial airspace, and includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China's own ADIZ and even some of the mainland itself.

US lawmakers approve Taiwan trade deal despite Chinese ire
Washington (AFP) June 22, 2023 - US lawmakers voted to greenlight an agreement aimed at deepening economic relations with Taiwan, prompting an irritated response from Beijing on Thursday.

The US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade streamlines customs checks, looks to improve regulatory procedures and establishes anticorruption measures.

After the House of Representatives approved it on Wednesday, it now heads to the Senate, the upper chamber of the US Congress, where it is expected to be ratified.

China said Thursday that the move "seriously contravenes the US side's stated commitment to maintain only unofficial relations with Taiwan".

Beijing "resolutely opposes" any nations with which it has diplomatic ties signing agreements "with connotations of sovereignty or of an official nature with China's Taiwan region," the foreign ministry told AFP in a statement.

"The US should... stop promoting and immediately withdraw (the agreement), and stop sending erroneous signals to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces," the ministry said.

Washington does not have official diplomatic relations with self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize -- by force if necessary.

The governments maintain unofficial ties, however, through the de facto US embassy on the island, the American Institute in Taiwan, which signed the agreement earlier this month with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.

Washington has remained a key ally and arms supplier to Taiwan despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. It is also the island's second-largest trade partner.

In April, Beijing conducted three days of military exercises simulating a blockade of the island in response to US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen meeting in California.

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