BEIJING (Dispatches) — China’s military flew 38 fighter jets and other warplanes near Taiwan, the Taiwanese defense ministry said Friday.
Naval vessels were also seen in the area as part of China’s long-running campaign of intimidation against Taiwan.
Later Friday, China’s People’s Liberation Army issued a protest over the flight of a United States Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft through the Taiwan Strait.
Calling Thursday’s flight a provocation that the U.S. “openly hyped up,” the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command said it scrambled fighter jets to monitor the plane’s flight.
Such acts “fully prove that the U.S. is a disruptor of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and a creator of security risks,” the statement said. “Theater troops maintain a high level of alert at all times and resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.”
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei told a news briefing on Thursday, said that Taiwan was inviting “wolves” into the home by hosting a U.S. defense industry forum next week, and that the U.S. military-industrial complex sought to export war for profit.
He said China was “extremely concerned” to learn of the forum, which is scheduled to be held in Taipei. “The Democratic Progressive Party authorities’ practice of bringing wolves into the home is repugnant and will only bring a deep disaster to Taiwanese compatriots,” Tan stated, referring to Taiwan’s ruling party.
He warned that the U.S. military-industrial complex sought to export war for profit. “These ‘military-industrial complexes’ of the United States have always been keen to sell arms around the world, export wars and seek windfall profits.”
Organizers say the Taiwan-U.S. Defense Industry Forum will be held on Wednesday. Steven Rudder, previously commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, is giving a keynote opening address at the event.
The United States is Taiwan’s principal international supporter and arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
Beijing views Chinese Taipei as an inseparable part of China, repeatedly warning Washington against unwise provocations in this regard.
The United States does not recognize Taiwan as a country and officially supports the “One China” policy but regularly oversteps its own principles.
China on Thursday warned the U.S. and South Korea against “stirring up tensions” and “provoking confrontation” with the North following Washington’s decision to deploy nuclear submarines to Seoul to purportedly protect it against Pyongyang.
Beijing strongly reacted to the U.S. decision to send nuclear armed submarines to South Korea by warning both Washington and Seoul against “provoking confrontation” with Pyongyang, Seoul’s arch-foe.
“All parties should face up to the crux of the (Korean) peninsula issue and play a constructive role in promoting a peaceful settlement of the issue,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a press conference.
She further warned the U.S. and South Korea against “deliberately stirring up tensions, provoking confrontation and playing up threats.”
Mao also lambasted the so-called Washington Declaration pact with Seoul, insisting that the U.S. “ignores regional security and insists on exploiting the peninsula issue to create tension.”