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TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan must be on alert for “excessive” military activities by China that violate regional peace, Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Tuesday after 56 Chinese planes flew over Taiwan’s air defense zone Monday, the highest on record.
Taiwan has reported 148 Chinese Air Force planes in the south and southwest of its air defense zone over a four-day period starting Friday, the same day China marked a patriotic holiday. key, the national holiday.
China claims the autonomous island as its own territory, which should be taken by force if necessary. Taiwan says it is an independent country and will defend its freedoms and democracy.
Taiwan calls China’s repeated military activities in the vicinity a “gray zone war,” designed both to exhaust Taiwanese forces by repeatedly scrambling them, and also to test Taiwan’s responses.
“Taiwan must be on high alert. China is being exaggerated more and more,” Su told reporters in Taipei. “The world has also witnessed the repeated violations of regional peace and the pressure exerted by China on Taiwan.
Taiwan must “strengthen” and unite, he added.
“Only then will countries that want to annex Taiwan not dare to easily resort to force. It is only when we help ourselves that others can help us.”
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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has made the modernization of the armed forces a priority, focusing on the use of new mobile weapons to make any attack on China as costly as possible.
The United States, Taiwan’s main military supplier, called China’s growing military activity near the island unsettling and reiterated its “rock solid” commitment to Taiwan.
China’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Japan also weighed in on Tuesday, saying it was monitoring the situation closely and hoped Taiwan and China could resolve their differences through talks.
“Japan believes that it is crucial that the situation around Taiwan be peaceful and stable,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in Tokyo.
“Also, instead of just monitoring the situation, we hope to weigh the different possible scenarios that might present themselves to consider the options available to us, as well as the preparations we need to make. “
Taiwan has lived under threat of invasion since the defeated ROC government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists. No peace or armistice treaty has ever been signed.
Taiwanese are well used to threats from China and there has been no sign of panic on the island due to increased military activity, or damage to investor confidence in the stock market.
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