Riyaz ul Khaliq
23 August 2022•Update: 23 August 2022
ISTANBUL
Taiwan said on Tuesday that 20 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels were detected surrounding the self-ruled island.
The Defense Ministry of the island nation said nine People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Beijing, which refers to Taiwan as a "breakaway province," does not recognize the median line and the ADIZ. Taiwan, however, has insisted on its independence since 1949.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen hosted a delegation of Japanese lawmakers on Tuesday.
Keiji Furuya and Minoru Kihara, representing Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, are in Taiwan and have called on Tsai.
Thanking the Japanese lawmakers for “demonstrating your support with your actions,” Tsai recalled former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s words: “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency.”
Abe, who died of gunshots last month, was widely regarded as a strong supporter of Taiwan among Japanese politicians.
Furuya heads the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council. The ROC stands for the Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan as it is known internationally.
The visiting Japanese lawmakers have urged Taiwan to lift the remaining restrictions on Japanese food imports imposed in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
China slams trip
Responding to the Japanese lawmakers' visit, China's Foreign Ministry called the visit a "disregard of China's stern demarches" issued to Tokyo.
It “grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, blatantly violates the one-China principle and the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents and sends a seriously wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Calling it an “egregious move,” Beijing said it “will take resolute and strong measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s sacred territory. The Taiwan question bears on the political foundation of China-Japan relations and the basic trust between our two countries,” the statement added.
“Such behavior of reneging on one’s commitment with sinister intention is doomed to fail and will not stop the historic process of China’s complete reunification,” Beijing said, urging Japan “not to wade in muddy water and seek selfish gains in the Taiwan Strait.”
