Latest military threats show China a 'troublemaker': Taiwan officials

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) China's ongoing provocations of Taiwan with gray zone tactics and military exercises have intensified regional tensions and shown that China is the "troublemaker" threatening peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, officials said Tuesday.

Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) head Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) described China as the "troublemaker" endangering regional peace, a day after Beijing launched what the Ministry of National Defense called "joint combat readiness patrols."

The relatively large-scale patrols included more than two dozen Chinese military aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait and dozens more flying into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in collaboration with Chinese naval vessels.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Monday described the movements as a "military exercise" in response to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) promoting Taiwan independence, provocation of Taiwan independence and separatism, and foreign interference.

Asked to distinguish between "joint combat readiness patrol" and "military exercise," Koo said the "patrols" are usually conducted by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on a weekly basis and involve "more PLA Air Force and Navy assets, and Chinese naval vessels advance to 24 nautical miles off Taiwan's coasts."

China conducted two joint combat readiness patrols on Monday, Koo said, and has resorted to any excuses they could find to justify their actions.

Taiwan's military launched its first "immediate response" military drill (立即備戰操演) on Monday in response to different scenarios, including a situation such as Monday's harassment.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered a different interpretation of the military patrols on Monday.

Spokesperson Mao Ning said the patrols were responses to "the U.S. State Department's alteration of documents on U.S.-Taiwan relations" that endangered peace across the Taiwan Strait.

Mao was referring to the State Department's change of a Taiwan-U.S. relations fact sheet published on its website in mid-February, when it removed a line indicating Washington's long-held stance of not supporting Taiwanese independence.

In a statement issued late Monday, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs "strongly condemned" China's military action that it said jeopardized cross-Taiwan Strait peace and stability.

The "troublemaker" description came on the heel of President Lai's recent public remarks in which he designated China as Taiwan's "foreign adversary." China had tried to paint Taiwan as the troublemaker in cross-strait relations in the past.

(By Lin Ching-yin and Chris Wang)

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