By Ryan Woo, Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) -China’s government said on Wednesday that it takes “necessary measures” to defend the country’s sovereignty and will not tolerate “separatist” activities, as Taiwan reported another rise in Chinese warplanes near the island.
Beijing’s military has yet to comment on the military activity and has not confirmed it is carrying out exercises.
A senior Taiwanese official said the surge in activity was meant to send a political message to the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, had been expected to launch drills to express its anger at President Lai Ching-te’s tour of the Pacific that ended on Friday, which included stopovers in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam.
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said China was deploying its largest navy fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a threat to Taiwan that is more pronounced than previous Chinese war games.
However, a U.S. military official said China’s naval deployments in the East China Sea and South China Sea were elevated but consistent with other large exercises in the past.
Asked at a regular news briefing in Beijing about the increased military activities, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Chinese authorities were “highly vigilant to the trend of separatist Taiwan forces colluding with external forces”.
“We will absolutely not let things go unchecked. We take necessary measures to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and safeguard the fundamental interests of compatriots on both sides,” she added, without directly confirming there were ongoing exercises.
Lai and his government reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it detected 53 military aircraft operating around the island over the past 24 hours, as well as 11 navy vessels and eight “official” ships, which refers to vessels from ostensibly civilian agencies such as the coast guard.
Taiwan’s military had gone on alert on Monday after saying China had reserved airspace and deployed naval and coast guard vessels.
A senior Taiwan security official, offering the government’s assessment of China’s activities, told a briefing in Taipei that it took China’s military nearly 70 days to plan and deploy the current sea operations and that they were meant for the incoming Trump government and U.S. allies, rather than specifically Lai’s visit to the Pacific.
“They are trying to draw a red line and exert authority for the new master of the White House,” the official said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
It was “extremely rare” for China to deploy sea operations of such scale at this time of the year when sea conditions are usually rough, the official said.
China has not announced any drills so far, and Taiwan’s government believes that could be because Beijing is trying to minimise the impact on two major events with Taiwanese businessmen and politicians, one taking place this week and another next week, the official added.
“It’s a carrot and stick approach,” the official said, pointing to Beijing’s annual charm offensive programmes towards Taiwan, including a visit to Taipei by one of Shanghai’s deputy mayors next week.
China says the Taiwan issue is the “core of its core interests” and a red line the United States should not cross.
China has held two rounds of major war games around Taiwan so far this year.
