Taiwan dispatched ships and fighter aircraft to monitor a second Chinese “joint combat readiness patrol” near the island within a week, as Taipei intensified vigilance over Beijing’s military activities.
Late on Monday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected 21 Chinese aircraft, including J-16 fighter jets and drones, operating around the island, which, along with warships, were conducting a “joint combat readiness patrol”. The ministry published three pictures taken by its forces, including one from an F-16 jet showing two Chinese fighters trailing a Y-20 refuelling aircraft.
Speaking in Taipei on Tuesday, Pan Chun-kuang from the ministry’s intelligence department said the Chinese “combat patrol” had already ended, but Taiwan continued to track the movements of the aircraft carrier Liaoning operating in the Western Pacific and would release more details of Chinese activities as needed.
China has increased its military presence around Taiwan, which it views as its own territory. Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims. The latest patrol came after President Xi Jinping discussed the dispute with US President Donald Trump in Beijing this month, and follows a similar readiness patrol last Tuesday, the day before Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te marked his second year in office.
Over the weekend, Taiwan said its coast guard had faced off with a Chinese ship near its Pratas Islands, strategically located at the top end of the South China Sea. On Saturday, Taiwan’s National Security Council secretary general Joseph Wu detailed on social media the 100 Chinese ships he said were currently in the first island chain, an area running from Japan through Taiwan and into the Philippines.
