China conducted simulated missile strikes and sent bombers with combat missiles on Friday during two-day Taiwanese exercises, Reuters reports citing Chinese state television, UNN writes.
Details
The bombers were said to have set up several strike groups in the waters east of Taiwan, conducting simulated attacks in coordination with warships, while "China was testing its ability to 'seize power' and control key areas of Taiwan.
A senior Taiwanese security official tells Reuters that several Chinese bombers have carried out simulated attacks on foreign vessels near the eastern edge of the Bashi Strait, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines, in a drill to seize "full control" of the areas west of the first island chain.
The first chain of islands belongs to the territory that stretches from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines, and on to Borneo, covering the coastal seas of China.
The official said that several Chinese coast guard boats also conducted harassment exercises off Taiwan's east coast, including mock inspections of civilian vessels.
The Chinese Coast Guard said it conducted a "law enforcement exercise" in the waters east of Taiwan on Friday, focusing on verification and identification, prevention and repulsion training.
The Chinese vessel Nantong carried out combat-ready patrols and practical exercises in the Taiwan Strait, with the Taiwanese vessel Zheng He following 0.6 nautical miles behind, Chinese state television CCTV reported.
The public affairs officer of the 7th Fleet of the US Navy said that it pays attention to "all developments" in the Indo-Pacific region and takes "very seriously" the responsibility of deterring aggression in the region.
Taiwan's armed forces have mobilized to observe and track Chinese forces. Taiwan's Ministry of Defense on Friday released photos of F-16s armed with combat missiles patrolling the skies.
The ministry reported that as of 6 a.m. (22:00 GMT) on Friday, 49 Chinese military aircraft, 19 navy vessels, and seven coast guard ships had been detected. Of these, 28 aircraft crossed the strait's median line, which once served as an unofficial barrier, although China says it does not recognize it.
According to a map provided by the ministry, the closest Chinese aircraft to the Taiwanese coast was 40 nautical miles (74 km) from the northern city and naval base of Keelung.
Addendum
The two-day drills in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwanese-controlled islands off the Chinese coast, which a Taiwanese official said also included simulated bombings of foreign vessels, began just three days after Taiwan's new president, Lai Tsingde, took office on Monday. Taiwan has condemned China's actions.
China considers democratically governed Taiwan to be its own territory and condemns Lai as a "separatist." It criticized his inaugural speech, in which Lai called on Beijing to stop threatening and said that the two sides of the strait are "not subordinate to each other.