Escalating hostility? China dispatches 38 warplanes near Taiwan

Tensions rise between China and Taiwan.
China flies 38 warplanes near Taiwan and sends 6 navy vessels.
19 aircraft crossed into foreign airspace.

The Chinese military has dispatched 38 warplanes near Taiwan, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said on Friday. It is the largest deployment from Beijing since the military maneuvers where they simulated blocking the island at the beginning of the month, according to El Heraldo and the AP.

Six Chinese navy ships were also detected in the area from 6 a.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, in an intimidation campaign against the autonomous island that Beijing claims as part of its territory as tensions are rising between the two nations.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Taiwan Chinese military aircraft — Photo Twitter

Nineteen of the aircraft crossed the line in the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from the mainland, the ministry said. He added that five of the aircraft were SU-30s and two were J-16s. A TB-001 drone flew around the island, according to a Defense Ministry diagram.

China carried out the maneuvers that simulated the blockade of the island after the April 5 meeting between the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, in California. China opposes official-level exchanges between Taiwan and other governments.

WHY IS THERE A CONFLICT?

Taiwan and China separated in 1949 after a civil war that ended when the Communist Party seized control of the mainland. Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing says the island must be integrated into the mainland, even by force if necessary.

Washington does not formally recognize Taiwan’s government, but it is the main supplier of arms and other security items, as well as political backing, to Taipei. China raised the pressure by deploying its aircraft and ships in the vicinity of the island almost daily, especially in response to political meetings between the two other countries.

THEY OPPOSE DEFENSE EXCHANGES

Just a couple of days ago, China warned against continuing US-Taiwan cooperation, in response to reports that Washington was sending officers to help train their Taiwanese counterparts ahead of a visit by a delegation from defense contractors to the self-governing island next week.

“We strongly oppose the United States having any kind of official or military contact with the Taiwan Chinese region,” Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, said during her weekly press conference in Beijing.

US SENDS TROOPS

Taiwanese media reported this month that the United States sent 200 troops, mostly marines, to help train troops on the island. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has neither denied nor confirmed the information. Meanwhile, a delegation of some 25 defense contractors will visit the island next week, invited by the US-Taiwan Business Consortium. Nikkei Asia reported that the arms manufacturers will discuss the joint production of drones and ammunition on the island.

«American defense contractors are intentionally provoking confrontation between the two sides, using the opportunity to make a profit,» said Zhu, who accused the Democratic Progressive Party, in power for six years, of collaborating with the United States to put pressure on favor of the formal independence of the island.