On Friday, Taiwan’s defense ministry condemned the “irrational” deployment of nine Chinese combat readiness patrol aircraft beyond the Taiwan Strait middle line.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is in the U.S. en route to Central America as tensions flare.
This week, China warned of unspecified repercussions if she meets U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles on her way back to Taipei in April.
Taiwan’s defense ministry claimed the nine Chinese aircraft crossed at places north, center, and south of the median line, serving as an unofficial barrier between the two sides.
The ministry claimed Taiwan’s military forces used their planes and ships to monitor the situation without “escalating confrontations or provoking disagreements.”
“The communist military’s placement of forces purposefully increased tension in the Taiwan Strait, harming peace and stability, regional security, and economic progress,” it stated.
The ministry denounced “such senseless activities.”
China, which claims Taiwan, did not respond.
As then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, China held war drills around Taiwan.
The median line, created by a U.S. general in 1954 during Cold War hostilities, has never been officially recognized by China, but the People’s Liberation Army respected it until recently.
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