Taiwanese fighter jets taking off at an Air Force base in Hsinchu. - AFP
TAIPEI: Taiwan said Tuesday (Dec 10) that China's deployment of ships in waters around the island was bigger than its military drills in 2022, which were the largest-ever Chinese war games.
Defence ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said the number of Chinese warships, coast guard and other vessels along the so-called first island chain, which links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, exceeded Beijing's maritime response to then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei in 2022.
A senior Taiwanese security official told AFP on Tuesday that "nearly 90" Chinese naval and coast guard ships were currently in waters of the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
Taiwan's defence ministry said earlier it had also detected 47 Chinese aircraft and 12 warships near the island in the 24 hours to 6am (2200 GMT).
China's air presence this week has not been as big as during the war games staged in 2022.
Pelosi's visit sparked outrage from Beijing, which launched vast military manoeuvres around the island.
Mobilising fighter planes, helicopters and warships, the drills aimed to simulate a blockade of Taiwan and included practising an "attack on targets at sea", state news agency Xinhua reported at the time.
It was the first time Chinese exercises had taken place so close to Taiwan, with some of the drills happening less than 20km from the island's coast.
Also unprecedented were Beijing's drills on Taiwan's eastern flank, a strategically vital area for supplies to the island's military forces -- as well as any potential American reinforcements.
China also fired ballistic missiles during the exercises that were condemned by Washington as a gross overreaction to Pelosi's visit.
Taiwan regards itself as a sovereign nation, but Beijing insists the island is part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control. - AFP
