Taipei — Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported detecting seven Chinese military aircraft sorties and six Chinese naval vessels operating near its territorial waters through 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Of the seven sorties, two crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern and southwestern air defense identification zones (ADIZ). The ROC Armed Forces monitored the situation and responded, the MND said on X.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Taiwan detected eight Chinese aircraft sorties and six vessels; two of those aircraft also crossed the median line into the southwestern ADIZ, the MND said in a separate post.
Separately, former U.S. defense official Ely Ratner, who served as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs from 2021 until this year, voiced support for Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi after her comments suggesting Japan might assist in defending Taiwan. Ratner called Beijing’s reaction “inappropriate” and said Takaichi’s remarks reflected Japan’s official stance, the Taipei Times reported.
On November 7, Takaichi told parliament that a Chinese assault on Taiwan could be viewed as “a situation threatening Japan’s survival,” potentially prompting military action; she is thought to be the first Japanese leader in decades to openly suggest that a crisis in the Taiwan Strait could lead to Japanese military involvement. Beijing responded angrily, taking retaliatory measures aimed at harming Japan’s economy, including warnings about travel and study in Japan and pausing the resumption of Japanese seafood imports. Xue Jian, the Chinese consul general in Osaka, posted a now-deleted social media comment saying Takaichi should be ‘decapitated.’
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