Taiwan sees no Chinese military response to V-P’s US trip

TAIPEI - Taiwan’s defence ministry on Tuesday said it has not seen large-scale exercises or any other action by the Chinese military near the island after China condemned a brief US visit by Taiwan’s Vice-President William Lai.

China has denounced Mr Lai’s US stopover on his way to Paraguay, calling him a separatist and “troublemaker through and through”, and said it would take strong steps to protect its sovereignty.

Taiwanese officials have said China is likely to launch military drills this week near the island, using Mr Lai’s US stopovers as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of next year’s presidential election and make them “fear war”. Mr Lai is leading in the polls.

When asked at a press conference about Chinese military activity in response to Mr Lai’s trip, defence ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said it was the responsibility of the armed forces to track any Chinese activities near Taiwan.

“The national army upholds the principle of ‘not afraid of the enemy and not provoking’ when facing all activities by the Chinese Communist Party,” Mr Sun said.

Taiwan had not seen any “relatively large-scale” drills or actions by China’s military, he said. “But this does not mean we will let down our guard or war preparedness determination.”

Asked whether China would launch more war games around Taiwan in response to Mr Lai’s US trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin reiterated that Beijing would “take resolute measures to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity”. He did not elaborate.

Five Chinese warplanes had entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone in the 24 hours up to Tuesday morning, made up of one Su-30, two J-10s and two J-16Ds, the ministry said in a daily report on Chinese activity.

The J-16D is an electronic warfare variant of one of China’s most modern fighters.

Beijing has launched almost daily military incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone in recent years.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, by force if necessary.

Mr Lai is due back in Taipei on Friday, flying via San Francisco.

China launched its last round of war games around Taiwan in April, a day after President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a trip to California where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Both Taiwan and the United States are aiming for Mr Lai’s US transits to be as low-key as possible, saying they were routine.

On Sunday, Mr Lai told supporters in New York that Taiwan would not be afraid nor back down in the face of authoritarian threats.

Taiwanese Premier Chen Chien-jen on Tuesday appealed for a calm response from China to Mr Lai’s US visits, saying such presidential and vice-presidential transits have gone on for many years. “There is no need for China to take this opportunity to provoke for no reason.” REUTERS