NEW DELHI: Taiwan has responded strictly in response of Chinese aggression saying that it will use navy and air force in case Chinese forces enter within 12 nautical miles into its territorial sea and airspace.
Taiwan’s Major General Lin Wen-huang said the country will exercise the “right to self-defence to counter-attack” amid China’s threat.
“China’s military has dispatched hundreds of jet fighters and warships near Taiwan following a visit to the island by the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in early August. Chinese have crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on several occasions, the roughly 100-mile-wide body of water that separates Taiwan and mainland China,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory. Both the country separated after a civil war in 1949. Tensions between the sides escalated since China fired missiles into the Taiwan Strait and mobilized ships and warplanes in the area after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last month.
“Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the US is its strongest political backer and source of defensive arms. Tsai’s administration has pushed for a strengthening of anti-drone defences as part of a 12.9% increase in its Defence Ministry’s annual budget next year. That would boost defense spending by an additional 47.5 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.6 billion), for a total of 415.1 billion NTD ($13.8 billion),” according to media reports.
Considering the situation, the US is also reportedly preparing to approve a $1.1 billion defence package for Taiwan including anti-ship and air-to-air missiles to be used to counter a potential Chinese invasion attempt.