China criticizes passage of USS John S. McCain through Taiwan Strait
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The destroyer USS John S. McCain transited the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, the U.S. Navy announced. Photo by MCS1 Jeremy Graham/U.S. Navy
April 7 (UPI) The transit of the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday drew swift condemnation from the Chinese military.
The ship sailed through the strait separating Tainan and China, in a routine exercise demonstrating the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific [Ocean], a Navy statement on Wednesday said.
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In a statement, Col. Zhang Chunhui, spokesman for China s People s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, said the action sent an erroneous signal to forces supporting Taiwan s independence from China.
Analysts say PLA incursions are political in nature
Staff writer, with CNA
Incursions by Chinese military aircraft into Taiwan’s airspace late last month were more politically rather than militarily motivated, analysts said on Monday.
Twenty Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on March 26. Among them were two Y-8 marine patrol aircraft and an H-6K bomber that flew into airspace southeast of Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said.
On Monday last week, 10 PLA aircraft entered the zone and a Y-8 again flew to the southeast of Taiwan.
The incursions drew attention because Chinese planes used to limit themselves to the airspace southwest of Taiwan, which is closer to their bases, and they came amid growing speculation over whether and when China might take military action against Taiwan.
PLA plane harassment more political than military: Taiwan analysts
04/05/2021 08:54 PM
A Chinese military Y-8 aircraft. CNA file photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Taipei, April 5 (CNA) Recent flights by Chinese military aircraft in sensitive airspace around Taiwan in late March, seen as a dramatic escalation of tension across the Taiwan Strait, was more politically than militarily motivated, analysts in Taiwan told CNA on Monday.
According to information provided by Taiwan s Ministry of National Defense, 20 military planes from China s People s Liberation Army (PLA) entered Taiwan s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on March 26.
Among the warplanes on the mission, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes and an H-6K bomber flew into airspace southeast of Taiwan, the side of Taiwan that faces away from China.
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