FALCON POWERS – China’s Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that it had detected 41 Chinese military aircraft around the island over a 24-hour period, a day after Beijing warned that “hardcore” Taiwanese independence supporters could face the death penalty.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control. Beijing has ratcheted up pressure on Taipei in recent years, including conducting military exercises around the island following the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, Tsai Ing-wen, last month.
In this context, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Saturday that it had detected 41 Chinese aircraft and seven Chinese ships around Taiwan in the 24 hours leading up to 6 a.m. (22:00 GMT on Friday).
The ministry said 32 of the aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that divides the 180-km (110-mile) wide waterway between Taiwan and China, which Beijing does not recognize.
The ministry said it had “monitored the situation and responded accordingly.”
The latest move comes after China on Friday issued judicial guidelines that included the death penalty for “especially serious” cases of “hardcore” supporters of Taiwan independence, state media reported.
On May 25, Taiwan reported spotting 62 Chinese military aircraft around the island in a 24-hour period, the highest number in a single day this year. That came as China held military exercises in the wake of Tsai’s inauguration, which Beijing views as a “Taiwan independence separatist.”
