Taiwan’s Defense Ministry scrambled land, air, and sea forces on Wednesday after Chinese ships launched a live-fire exercise near the Taiwanese coast without warning.
“This move not only poses a high risk to the navigation safety of international flights and ships at sea, but is also a blatant provocation to regional security and stability,” the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The drill began early Wednesday morning, about 40 nautical miles off the coast from the coastal city of Kaohsiung, home to Taiwan’s largest port and a hub for global shipping, per the statement.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China gave no advance notice of the drill, which involved multiple surface vessels plus at least 32 combat aircraft, 22 of which flew into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) during the exercise.
The PLA gave only a terse radio warning to ships in the area that “shooting training” was about to begin. The Chinese warships swiftly departed the area after the drill was completed.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said China “blatantly violated international norms” by unilaterally restricting sea and air space for a live-fire exercise without advance notice.
Taipei described the drill as the latest in a string of provocative and bullying actions, including live-fire drills near Australia and Vietnam, which offered “proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific.”
China did not immediately comment on the drill near Taiwan, but later on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense insisted PLA exercises were consistent with “international law and normal practice,” and posed “no threat to aviation safety.”
Perhaps not coincidentally, China’s drill off the Taiwanese coast came the day after Taiwan detained a Togo-flagged cargo ship with a Chinese crew, on suspicion that the ship either deliberately or accidentally severed an underwater telecommunications cable.
The Taiwanese Coast Guard said it could not rule out “the possibility of grey zone harassment” from the China-linked ship. Grey zone harassment refers to acts of sabotage and psychological warfare that stop just short of military provocation.
Beijing on Wednesday dismissed the cable breach as a “common maritime accident” and said Taiwan “deliberately exaggerated the situation in an attempt at political manipulation, which will not enjoy popular support.”
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