Remind Taipei, Nine Chinese Fighter Jets Hold Combat Patrols Crossing The Central Line Of Taiwan Strait

Illustration of Chinese fighter jets. (Wikimedia Commons/)

Nine Chinese fighter jets crossed the central line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday to conduct combat readiness patrols, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said, days after Beijing threatened to retaliate against Taipei if President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said nine Chinese aircraft crossed points north, center and south of the strait, which are used as unofficial buffers between the two sides.

Taiwan's armed forces responded by using their own planes and ships, to monitor the situation by using the principle of "not increasing conflict or causing dispute", the ministry said.

"The deployment of communist military forces deliberately created tensions in the Taiwan Strait, not only undermining peace and stability, but also having a negative impact on regional security and economic development," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry condemned what it called "unrational actions".

Meanwhile, there was no immediate response from China regarding the combat patrol.

Meanwhile, a senior Taiwanese official familiar with security planning told Reuters Chinese planes had "little" violated the median line, and no unusual movement from Chinese ships was stopped.

China staged war games around Taiwan in August, following a visit by the then Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, and has continued its military activities near Taiwan since then despite on a smaller scale.

The Taiwanese official said China was unlikely to repeat such major exercises as they were in the midst of a " charm-spreading attack" on foreign political and business leaders, and an escalation of military tensions would send a "contrary message" to the world.

"Therefore, we have made all preparations if China reacted irrationally," the source said. "The more the international community pays attention to Taiwan, the more angry they are," he continued.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Friday, Prime Minister Chen Chien-jen said Taiwan is a "democratic country" that has the right to leave the world.

"I hope China will not find a pretext to provoke," he said, when asked about Beijing's retaliatory threat.

"China's authoritarian expansion will actually cause unnecessary problems, so we are here once again making these calls, hoping China can reduce its provocative actions," he said.

As previously reported, President Tsai arrived in New York, United States on Wednesday, a stopover on his official trip to Central America.

He is expected to meet McCarthy in Los Angeles, during a second stop in Uncle Sama's Country, on his way back to Taipei in April. In response, China on Wednesday threatened an unnamed retaliation if the meeting took place.

China, which claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory despite strong resistance from the island's government, has been angered by what it sees as increasing US support for Taiwan.

Meanwhile, China has never officially recognized the halfway line, designed by a US general at the height of Cold War hostilities in 1954, although the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has so far respected it.