On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported ongoing Chinese military activity around the island, with two Chinese aircraft and five PLAN vessels detected as of 6:00 a.m. (local time).
In a post on X, the ministry said that “2 take-offs of PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected by 6:00 a.m. (UTC 8) today. 2 of the 2 combat flights crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces monitored the situation and responded.”
The middle line in the Taiwan Strait serves as an unofficial border between Taiwan and China, but Beijing has increasingly violated it in recent years as part of its pressure campaign against Taipei.
A day earlier, on Monday, the MND reported that six PLA aircraft and five PLAN vessels were operating around Taiwan until 6 a.m. local time. “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 ministry said.
The latest military moves come amid heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait as Beijing continues near-daily operations around the self-ruled island.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump warned China against any military aggression against Taiwan, saying Beijing “knows the consequences” of such action. In an interview with CBS after meeting with Chinese President 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 an issue yesterday … 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 Jinping has ordered the Chinese military to prepare for a potential invasion by 2027.
