China Reserves 7 Airspace Zones Adjacent To Taiwan, Deploys 90 Naval And Coast Guard Vessels, Taipei Initiates Combat Readiness Exercises, US Sends A-10 "Warthogs" To Philippine Air base
A Taiwanese security official said that China had deployed around 90 of its PLAN vessels and CCG ships near Taiwan
TAIPEI - Taiwan's forces raised its alert as China announced it had reserved 7 airspace zones adjacent to the island of Taiwan east of Zhejiang and Fujian and deployed PLA Navy (PLAN) and CCG (Chinese Coast Guard) vessels around the Taiwan Strait and Western Pacific, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Defense.
A Taiwanese security official said that China had deployed around 90 of its PLAN vessels and CCG ships near Taiwan, the southernmost Japanese islands and the East China and South China Seas. A third of the vessels were reported to be Naval forces.
The "temporary reserved areas" Beijing announced are put in place until Wednesday, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Defense statement. The seven areas were also listed in a Notice to Air Mission issued by Beijing, though it did not announce that any military or naval drills were planned for the region.
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said, "Any unilateral and irrational, provocative actions could seriously damage peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and that will not be welcomed by the international community".
In light of the rising tensions in the region, and increased Chinese naval forces being spotted around Taiwan and the Philippines, the United States has sent at least four A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthogs" to the Clark Air Base in the Philippines, situated not far from the island of Taiwan.
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