Taiwan to China: Don't get too close

Beijing calls military drills `just actions'

TAIPEI/BEIJING •Taiwan's defence ministry warned China of strong countermeasures on Wednesday if its forces got too close to the island, as Beijing defended its incursions into Taiwan's air defence zone as “just” moves to protect peace and stability.

Military tensions with China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, are at their worst in more than 40 years, Taiwan's defence minister said last week, adding China will be capable of mounting a “full scale” invasion by 2025.

He was speaking after China mounted four straight days of mass air force incursions into Taiwan's air defence identification zone that began Oct. 1, part of a pattern of what Taipei views as stepped up military harassment by Beijing.

No shots have been fired and China's aircraft have stayed well away from Taiwan's airspace, concentrating their activities in the southwestern corner of Taiwan's air defence zone.

In a report to parliament, Taiwan's defence ministry said their forces will adhere to the principle of “the closer they are to the island, the stronger the countermeasures,” though it gave no details.

The ministry expressed concern again of China's growing prowess, with new aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines and amphibious assault ships coming into service.

China's capabilities in denying access and blockading the Taiwan Strait “are becoming more and more complete, which will pose serious challenges and threats to our defence operations,” it added.

China blames Taiwan, and its most important international backer the United States, for the tensions, a point Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, made again in Beijing, pointing the finger at Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP).

Chinese drills are aimed at “collusion” with foreign forces — a veiled reference to U.S. support for Taiwan — and separatist activities, protecting the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, he added.

“They are absolutely just actions,” Ma said.

“The DPP authorities' hyping of the so-called `military threat' of the mainland is to completely invert right and wrong, and a bogus accusation,” he added.

“If the DPP authorities obstinately persist in going about things the wrong way, and do not know how to draw back from the edge, it will only push Taiwan into a more dangerous situation.”

Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name, and will defend its freedom and democracy.