Taiwan scrambled, puts navy on alert amid Chinese threat

TAIPEI, Taiwan : Taiwan has scrambled fighter jets, put its navy on alert and activated missile systems in response to the presence of 34 Chinese military aircraft and nine warships that are part of Beijing's strategy to unsettle and intimidate the self-governing island democracy.

The large-scale Chinese deployment came as Beijing increased preparations for a potential blockade or attack on Taiwan that has stirred major concerns among military leaders in the United States, Taiwan's key ally.

In a memo last month, US Air Force General Mike Minihan told officers to be prepared for a US-China conflict over Taiwan in 2025. Minihan is a head of Air Mobility Command and has a keen understanding of the Chinese military and his personal remarks echo calls in the US for heightened preparations.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that 20 Chinese aircraft crossed the central line on the Taiwan Strait that has been an unofficial buffer zone between the sides, which was divided amid civil war in 1949.

China claims to have the self-governing island republic as its own territory to be taken by force, while the vast majority of Taiwanese are opposed to coming under the control of China's authoritarian Communist Party.

The defence ministry said that Taiwan s armed forces monitored the situation to respond to these activities.

China has sent warships, bombers, fighter jets and support aircraft into airspace near Taiwan on a near-daily basis, hoping to wear down the island's limited defence resources and undercut support for pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen.

Chinese fighter jets have also confronted military aircraft from the US and allied nations over international airspace in the South China and East China Seas, in what Beijing has described as dangerous and threatening manoeuvres.

A string of visits by foreign politicians to Taiwan in recent months, including by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and numerous politicians from the European Union, spurred displays of military might from both sides.

In response to Pelosi's visit in August, China staged war games surrounding the island and fired missiles over it into the Pacific Ocean.