Taipei (EFE).- Taiwan is closely monitoring military activity by Beijing in the week leading up to its National Day, an anniversary that last year was marked by large-scale military maneuvers by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
In statements reported by the state CNA news agency, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Friday that the island’s government will continue to monitor Chinese movements in the coming days and will take appropriate measures, although he declined to provide further information on “hypothetical” scenarios.
The official visited Taipei’s military bases on the Penghu Islands, a strategically located archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, on Thursday, and posed for a photo next to a battery of Sky Bow III missiles, a surface-to-air missile system designed to intercept cruise and ballistic missiles at an altitude of 70 kilometers.
Regarding whether these missiles had already been deployed on the outlying islands under Taipei’s control, Koo said that the Sky Bow III missiles “are already in service and are in the process of further deployment,” without providing further details.
These statements came a week before the celebration of National Day on Oct. 10, a date that commemorates the overthrow of the last imperial dynasty in 1911 and the establishment of the republic, and on which Taiwanese presidents typically address the nation.
In his first National Day address as president last year, President William Lai reaffirmed Taiwan’s sovereignty and expressed his willingness to work with China to maintain regional security.
His words did not sit well with Beijing, which a few days later launched a new wave of military maneuvers around Taiwan, called Joint Sword-2024B, in which it simulated the blockade and takeover of key ports and areas on the island.
The days leading up to this year’s National Day have also been marked by a resurgence of disputes between Taipei and Beijing regarding the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty, specifically concerning United Nations Resolution 2758.
This resolution, adopted in October 1971, recognized the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China in the United Nations.
Beijing maintains that this resolution also affirms its sovereignty over Taiwan, an interpretation that Taipei considers a “distortion” of the original text, intended to create a “false legal basis” to justify “future armed aggression” against its territory. EFE
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