China is deploying its largest naval fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a greater threat to Taiwan than previous Chinese military exercises, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Tuesday.
Speaking in Taipei, defense ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said the Chinese naval fleet was being deployed in an area stretching from the southern Japanese islands to the South China Sea, the largest deployment since China held military exercises around Taiwan ahead of Taiwan’s presidential election in 1996.
China’s military has yet to comment or confirm that it is conducting any exercises. Taiwan’s military raised its alert level on Monday after saying China had “reserved airspace and deployed naval and coastal ships,” Reuters reported.
“The current scale is the largest compared to the previous four. Regardless of whether they announced the exercises, they pose a major threat to us,” Sun said.
Photo: Ariana news
