Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported on Saturday Chinese military activity around its territory, with six PLA aircraft and five PLAN vessels operating by 6:00 a.m. (local time) today.
In a post on X, MND said one of the six combat flights crossed the median line and entered the eastern and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
“6 combat flights of PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected by 6:00 AM (UTC 8) today. 1 of the 6 combat flights crossed the center line and entered Taiwan’s northern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces monitored the situation and responded,” the statement said.
On Sunday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported Chinese military activity around its territory, with six PLA aircraft and eight PLAN vessels operating by 6:00 a.m. (local time) today.
In a post on X, MND said three of the five sorties crossed the median line and entered the eastern and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ).
Earlier on Monday, US President Donald Trump said China “knows the consequences” if it attacks Taiwan and said Chinese President Xi Jinping understands the situation “very well”.
Trump said this in an interview with CBS after meeting with Xi Jinping.
Trump said, “You’re going to find out if that happens, and he understands the answer to that. This didn’t even come up as a topic yesterday. He never brought it up. People were kind of surprised that he never brought it up because he understands it, and he understands it very well.”
Trump declined to reveal his strategy on a potential Taiwan conflict, insisting that China “understands what will happen” if it attempts any aggression.
He added: “I can’t give away my secrets. I don’t want to be one of those guys who tells you exactly what’s going to happen if something happens. The other side knows, but I’m not somebody who’s going to tell you everything because you ask me a question, but they understand what’s going to happen.”
Trump said Chinese officials had shied away from taking action against Taiwan during his presidency, saying they knew the “consequences.”
Trump went on to state, “He has said openly and his people have said openly in meetings that we would never do anything while President Trump is president because they know the consequences.”
In recent years, China has stepped up its coercive tactics, conducting large-scale military exercises, sending warplanes near Taiwan’s airspace almost daily and raising fears of a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, as The Epoch Times pointed out.
US intelligence suggests that Xi has ordered the Chinese military to prepare for a potential invasion by 2027.
