US Senators Come, China Holds Combat Training Around Taiwan

JAKARTA - China's military announced on Friday it was holding joint combat readiness exercises, patrols, and combat exercises at sea as well as airspace around Taiwan, as senior US senators visited Taipei to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, opposes any form of official interaction between US officials and Taiwan, routinely describing Taiwan as the most sensitive and important issue in its relationship with Washington.

The exercise, announced by the East Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), was held in response to "collusion and provocation" by the United States and Taiwan, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in a statement.

Several Chinese fighter jets crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait on Friday in the northern part of the waterway, a Taiwan source explaining the matter told Reuters, adding that the plane did not enter Taiwan's airspace.

The source said it was rare for Chinese aircraft to cross unofficial buffers, mainly from northwestern Taiwan.

The plane "flew straight across" the centerline and then "go round and round" carried out tactical operations, the person said, adding Taiwanese fighter jets to intercept Chinese aircraft.

"It was a clear provocation message", the man said, citing US Senator Rick Scott's visit, a senior Republican politician who heads the Republican National Senator Committee and sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Air Force said it "complete understanding" of the situation in the area and was "actively" defending national security, without providing further explanation.

Separately, Chinese spokesman Wu said Scott's visit to Taiwan had seriously damaged China-US relations and stepped up tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

"The Chinese People's Liberation Army is ready to go to war at any time, will take all necessary measures to firmly thwart external interference and attempt to separate itself from Taiwan's independence, firmly defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity", he said.

After meeting with President Tsai in Taipei on Friday, Scott told reporters he believed "the world had changed" following the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

"We all have to put ourselves in a position that can ensure we defend the freedoms we all believe in. I think it would be very helpful if Taiwan participated in the RIBPAC and I hope that's the case in the future", he explained.

The Pacific Circle Exercise, known as RIMPAC, is referred to as the world's largest international maritime exercise, with the latest starting late last month when 26 countries participated in exercises around Hawaii and Southern California.

Earlier, the Taiwanese government criticized China's increasing military and political pressure to try and force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty, saying only 23 million of its people could decide their future.

"Taiwan will continue to work with the United States to jointly maintain stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region", Tsai told Scott.

Meanwhile, US-China tensions have escalated due to issues including Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade rates, and China's open refusal to publicly criticize Russian leader Putin for the war in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is scheduled to meet Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday at a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in Bali, Indonesia.