Taipei [Taiwan], December 24 : Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) on Tuesday reported the operation of eight Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels. The aircraft and vessels were detected operating around Taiwan until 6 am (local time) on Tuesday.
Of the eight People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, six of them crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Sharing a post on X, MND wrote, "8 PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today."
The post added, "6 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly."
https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1871360146598977733
Meanwhile, following the White House announcement of arms sales and assistance to Taiwan, China's foreign ministry said that the "Taiwan issue" is the core of China's interests and the "first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations," Taiwan News reported.
Further, the ministry also accused the US of "playing with fire."
A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned the latest US arms package to Taiwan, stating that it "seriously violates the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques, especially the 'August 17' communique, seriously infringes on China's sovereignty and security interests, and seriously violates the US leaders' commitment not to support "Taiwan independence."
The spokesperson claimed that Washington's actions sent a "seriously wrong signal to the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces."
Recently, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also criticised China's stance towards Taiwan and said that "China is bullying Taiwan, and pursuing access to critical infrastructure in ways that could cripple societies."
He said, "We need to be clear-eyed about China's ambitions. China is substantially building up its forces, including its nuclear weapons - with no transparency and no limitations. From 200 warheads in 2020, China is expected to have more than 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030. Its space-launch investments are skyrocketing. China is bullying Taiwan, and pursuing access to our critical infrastructure in ways that could cripple our societies."
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