16 Chinese warships were spotted in the waters around Taiwan in the previous 24 hours until 6am last Saturday. The Ministry of Defense of the self-governing island reported this information. Beijing calls this number of warships a record.
Analysts say it is the latest move by China’s ruling Communist Party to intimidate Taipei.
Earlier last week, several Chinese warplanes conducted exercises along the middle of the Taiwan Strait and over Taiwan’s air defense detection zone.
In the middle of last week, 73 aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army of China flew through the middle of the Taiwan Strait in a period of more than 72 hours. The middle part of the strait is an imaginary border, which Beijing does not recognize. At the same time, nine PLA warships were spotted in the waters around Taiwan for three consecutive days.
Since August 2022, the self-governing island of Taiwan has been providing regular updates on China’s military activities. Among them, the presence of 16 Chinese ships from 6 am to 24 hours on Friday is the highest number ever.
Carl Schuster, a Hawaii-based analyst and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, told CNN on Monday that this is a growing military effort. These military operations signal that Beijing is increasing its power.
According to China’s Global Times, the country’s state media reported last Sunday that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has set a record by deploying so many warships in the exercise in the region.
According to the Global Times, analysts said last Sunday that the latest exercise demonstrated the PLA’s ability to surround the island.
However, neither Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense nor the Global Times report detailed the presence of PLA warships in waters around Taiwan.
“We will see more of these exercises,” said Karl Schuster, noting that the PLA will continue to increase pressure on Taiwan.