Taiwan has recorded China's second combat patrol near the island this week
Taiwan has deployed warships and fighter jets to monitor China’s second joint combat patrol of the week near the island, Reuters reports.
Taipei has stated that China is stepping up its military presence around Taiwan. The increased activity comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the Taiwan issue with US President Donald Trump in Beijing earlier this month.
China regards democratically governed Taiwan as its territory and sends military ships and aircraft near the island almost daily. The Taiwanese government rejects Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over the island.
Late on the evening of 26 May, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence reported detecting 21 Chinese aircraft, including J-16 fighter jets and drones. They were operating around the island alongside military vessels as part of a joint combat patrol.
China’s Ministry of Defence did not provide an immediate comment.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence also released three photographs taken by the Taiwanese military. One of the images, taken from an F-16 fighter jet, shows two Chinese fighter jets alongside a Y-20 refuelling aircraft. Another photo shows the Chinese warship Yinchuan. A further image depicts a Taiwanese sailor observing the vessel through binoculars.
Commenting on the patrol and the presence of the Liaoning aircraft carrier group, Taiwan’s National Security Council Secretary Joseph Wu described China’s actions as “unprovoked”.
“The PRC is the sole source of instability in the Indo-Pacific region,” he wrote on social media platform X.
On 24 May, Joseph Wu stated that China had deployed over 100 ships along the so-called first island chain, which stretches from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines. Another Taiwanese official told Reuters that these ships remain in the area.
Pan Chun-kuang, a spokesperson for the Taiwanese Ministry of Defence’s intelligence department, told reporters in Taipei that Taiwan is also continuing to monitor the movements of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning in the western Pacific.
China had already conducted a similar patrol last Tuesday. This took place a day before Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te marked the second anniversary of his time in office. Beijing calls Lai a “separatist” and has rejected repeated offers of talks.
Su Jiyun, director of the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, stated that during such patrols, Chinese warships equipped with cruise missiles approach the coast of Taiwan to within 24 nautical miles.
According to him, this significantly reduces the response time of air defence systems, as sea-based missiles are harder to detect and, once launched, can reach their target in around three minutes.
“If China were to launch such a surprise missile strike, it could temporarily paralyse Taiwan,” said Su Jiyun.
Taiwan also reported that the island’s coastguard confronted a Chinese coastguard vessel over the weekend near the Pratas Islands, which are controlled by Taiwan in the northern part of the South China Sea.
