Days after the Biden administration authorized a $500 million arms sale, China is sending dozens of aircraft and ships to Taiwan creating the question Are Taiwan and China at War.
Are Taiwan and China at War? China sends dozens of aircraft and vessels to Taiwan
Are Taiwan and China at War? According to the military ministries of China and Taiwan, dozens of Chinese airplanes and four ships conducted extensive combat rehearsals around Taiwan into the early hours of Monday.
Chinese naval and aircraft troops were put to the test during the drills, which got underway on Sunday, to see how well they could execute coordinated assaults and According to a statement from the nation’s defense ministry “resolutely counter the collaborative and provocative acts of the external forces and the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.” Out of the 57 aircraft participating in the drills, Taiwan’s defense ministry said 28 crossed the unofficial border over the Taiwan Strait into the island’s restricted airspace, so are Taiwan and China at War?
To answer the question Are Taiwan and China at War? This is according to AFP, China nearly doubled the amount of fighter jets, bombers, and support aircraft incursions into Taiwan’s claimed airspace in 2022 compared to the previous year as Beijing becomes more explicit in its desire to annex Taiwan — by force, if necessary — and the United States raises concerns about China’s expanding military influence in the Pacific.
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Are Taiwan and China at War: “We seek neither escalation nor conflict”
Taiwan’s defense ministry added Monday that “We seek neither escalation nor conflict,” in a rare follow-up to their usual statement on Chinese territorial transgressions.
As per a statement Are Taiwan and China at War? from the State Department, the arms trade included Infrared Search and Track (IRST) equipment, computer software, and spare parts for Taiwan’s military aircraft. The government added that by assisting the recipient in its ongoing efforts to modernize its armed forces, it “serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests.”
Following the arms purchase that intensified the question Are Taiwan and China at War?, a representative for the Chinese Defense Ministry named Zhang Xiaogang said in a statement that China strongly disagreed with the choice and saw it as a “gross interference” and a “heinous act,” according to the AP. He also insisted that the U.S. honor its prior pledge to abstain from the independence movement in Taiwan.