TAIPEI REPORTS SORTIES BY PLA AIRCRAFT AROUND ISLAND

Taiwan’s defence ministry yesterday said it had detected 22 People’s Liberation Army warplanes and drones around the self-ruled island in a window of less than three hours.

The sorties come less than a month before the May 20 inauguration of Taiwanese president-elect William Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing regards as a dangerous separatist.

“We detected activities from 22 PLA aircraft … since 9.30am,” it said in a statement released at 12.10pm yesterday. “Twelve aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern and central air defence identification zone,” it said, adding the warplanes and drones joined the PLA naval vessels in “joint combat patrol”.

The median line bisects the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180km waterway separating the island from the mainland. Beijing, which does not recognise the line, claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to arm Taiwan.

Under the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, tensions between Beijing and Taipei have ramped up, as she and her government have rejected Beijing’s claim to the island. Her deputy, Vice-President Lai, won the island’s presidential election in January despite warnings from Beijing that he would cause “war and decline” for Taiwan.

Yesterday’s show of military might comes as the US and the Philippines are conducting joint military exercises, including near the potential flashpoints of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety despite an international ruling that the claim has no legal basis.