TAIPEI – Taiwan’s defense ministry announced on Thursday that it is closely monitoring increased Chinese military activity after a significant number of Chinese warplanes joined drills with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean.
This escalation coincides with a NATO summit in Washington, where a draft communique identifies China as a major enabler of Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine and highlights Beijing’s systemic challenges to European security.
The Shandong carrier passed near the Philippines en route to the Pacific exercises, according to Taiwan’s defense minister. In its daily update, Taiwan’s defense ministry reported detecting 66 Chinese military aircraft operating around the island, with 39 of them moving to the south and southeast of Taiwan. The ministry previously noted that 36 aircraft were heading to the Western Pacific to conduct drills with the Shandong.
Taiwan’s defense ministry released images of a Chinese J-16 fighter and a nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, indicating they were taken recently without specifying the location or time. “The military has a detailed grasp of the activities in the seas and waters around the Taiwan Strait, including those of Chinese aircraft and ships,” said ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang, confirming that the exercises with the Shandong are being closely monitored.
China’s defense ministry has not commented on the Shandong’s activities.
Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has faced increased Chinese military pressure over the past four years. Beijing aims to assert its sovereignty claims, which the democratically governed island rejects.
A spokesperson for the Chinese mission to the European Union criticized the NATO summit’s draft declaration, calling it filled with “belligerent rhetoric” and “provocations, lies, incitement, and smears.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry expressed support for NATO’s growing focus on peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and its efforts to strengthen interactions with countries in the area.
In addition to the Taiwan Strait, there are other regional security concerns involving China and Russia. Japan’s Self Defense Forces reported tracking two Russian frigates on Wednesday as they passed between islands near Taiwan, heading southwest towards the Pacific Ocean.
China and the Philippines are also engaged in a standoff in the disputed South China Sea. Encounters have become increasingly tense as Beijing asserts its claims over shoals within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
U.S. allies Australia and Japan have been stepping up their military activities. The Philippines Air Force arrived in northern Australia on Wednesday for its first overseas deployment in six decades, participating in combat practice with U.S. and Australian fighter jets. Additionally, a Japanese navy destroyer made a rare entry into China’s territorial waters near Taiwan earlier this month, which drew serious concerns from Beijing, according to Japanese media reports.