Taiwan Flags ‘Obvious’ Threat From More Than 50 Chinese Vessels in Wide Sweep of Waters

Taiwan has warned of an “obvious” threat from more than 50 Chinese vessels operating across a wide sweep of waters stretching from southern Japan down to Taiwan and off the Philippines, publishing a map of the deployments as regional tensions over the island continue to rise. The Taiwan Chinese vessels threat was flagged by the island’s top security official, who said Taipei was staying vigilant as the ships operated simultaneously near three neighbours.

FAKTA

• More than 50 Chinese navy and other official vessels were mapped operating from southern Japan to Taiwan and off the Philippines.
• National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu published a map on X showing 53 ships, including 34 navy warships and the aircraft carrier Liaoning.
• The Liaoning carrier group was positioned east of the Philippines, with other formations off Taiwan’s east and southeast and three vessels off southern Japan.
• Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Thursday that Taipei was “maintaining appropriate awareness” of the activity.
• China’s defence ministry has said the Liaoning was on a routine training exercise not directed at any specific country.

Taiwan Chinese vessels threat mapped from Japan to the Philippines

Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, said on Wednesday that China had more than 50 navy and other official vessels operating across the region. “We’re staying vigilant about their activities,” Wu said, adding: “The simultaneous threat to Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines is obvious.”

The map Wu posted on X showed the locations of 53 ships, 34 of them navy warships, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning. According to the map, the carrier and its accompanying battle group were positioned to the east of the Philippines, with other formations off Taiwan’s east and southeast and three vessels off the southern coast of Japan. Wu published a similar map in May.

Taiwanese media, including the Liberty Times, reported on Thursday that the drills involved naval units from three of China’s five military theatre commands — the Northern, Eastern and Southern theatres — alongside China Coast Guard, Maritime Safety Administration and other maritime law-enforcement vessels. The deployments stretched from waters off western Kyushu in Japan to the Philippine Sea east of the First Island Chain, the maritime line running through Japan’s Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Japan tracks warships through Osumi Strait

Japan’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that it had tracked three Chinese warships and a coast guard ship a day earlier as they passed through the narrow Osumi Strait off Kyushu island and into the Pacific. The defence ministries of China, the Philippines and Japan did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

China’s defence ministry said earlier this month that the Liaoning was engaged in a routine training exercise not directed at any specific country. China views Taiwan as its own territory, while Taiwan’s government says only the island’s people can decide their future and that Beijing has no right to claim it. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, though it says it would prefer peaceful reunification.

Taipei stresses vigilance and deterrence

Speaking to reporters at parliament in Taipei on Thursday, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said: “We are not happy to see any attempt to project deterrence that could undermine peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.” He said his ministry was “maintaining appropriate awareness” of Chinese military warship activity, in addition to intelligence exchanges with partners.

Asked about remarks by the commander of US Army forces in the Pacific, reported by the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes, that the Indo-Pacific theatre had been prepared under the assumption that China could move on Taiwan as early as next year, Koo said Taiwan was making efforts to build its own deterrence capabilities. “China has never abandoned the use of force to annex Taiwan,” he added.

China’s ties with both Japan and the Philippines have worsened in recent months. Beijing has been upset by Japanese support for Taiwan, while it is embroiled in an increasingly bitter stand-off with Manila in the South China Sea. More coverage of the region is available on Watan News Asia.