Taipei, Dec. 12 (ANI) — Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence reported detecting 33 sorties by Chinese military aircraft and seven People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels operating around Taiwan’s territorial waters as of 6:00 a.m. local time. The MND said 23 of the 33 sorties crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). The ministry said it monitored the activity and responded accordingly.
The announcement followed an earlier report from Thursday noting 27 sorties and six naval vessels as of 9:05 a.m., of which 22 sorties crossed the median line into the northern, central, southwestern and eastern ADIZ. The MND said the aircraft detected included various types such as J-10 fighters, H-6K bombers and KJ-500 early-warning planes operating alongside PLAN vessels in joint air-sea training; Taiwan’s armed forces said they tracked and reacted to the movements.
Separately, former U.S. defense official Ely Ratner voiced support for Japanese politician Sanae Takaichi after she suggested Japan might assist in defending Taiwan. In remarks on Nov. 7 during a parliamentary meeting, Takaichi said a Chinese assault on Taiwan could be viewed as ‘‘a situation threatening Japan’s survival,’’ potentially justifying military action — a stance experts say is the most explicit by a Japanese leader in decades. Her comments drew strong retaliation from China, including warnings against travel to or study in Japan and suspension of the resumption of Japanese seafood imports. A now-deleted social media post by the Chinese consul general in Osaka reportedly said Takaichi should be “decapitated,” a remark that provoked further controversy, according to the Taipei Times.
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