TAIPEI: Dozens of Chinese warplanes and 10 navy ships were detected around Taiwan, Taipei authorities said on Thursday after warning that Beijing was conducting air and sea drills in the Western Pacific.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and relations have soured since Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, with Beijing ratcheting up military and political pressure on the island.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement that 68 Chinese aircraft and 10 naval vessels were detected near the island between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning.
Taipei had already said some of those planes and warships were heading to an unspecified area of the Western Pacific to “conduct joint sea and air training” with China’s Shandong aircraft carrier.
The Shandong, one of two operational aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet, was detected Monday around 60 nautical miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Taiwan heading into the Western Pacific, Taipei authorities said.
Japan’s defense ministry also said Wednesday its navy had detected six ships — including frigates, destroyers, one fast combat support ship and the Shandong — sailing through waters some 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Miyakojima island, east of Taiwan.
It also confirmed that jets and helicopters had been detected taking off and landing from the Shandong.
Taipei warned this week that China was stepping up “grey zone” activities around the island, accusing Beijing of seeking to raise regional tensions and pressure the territory while avoiding all-out conflict.
China’s military “has been tasked to develop capabilities to take over Taiwan,” one expert said.
“Those military exercises are aimed at developing and practicing those capabilities,” Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at Washington DC’s German Marshall Fund.
“We should expect its trend to continue, with growing pressure on Taiwan.”
China has not commented officially on any drills being conducted in the Western Pacific.
However, its Eastern Theatre Command, which organizes drills around Taiwan, said Wednesday an “aviation unit” had carried out training “recently” in a range of “thousands of kilometers.”
It did not mention Taiwan.
China said last week its troops were “on constant high alert” after two ships belonging to the United States and Canada sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
The US Navy said the ships were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and HMCS Ottawa, and that the transit “demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” another term for the Asia-Pacific region.
The United States and Western allies have increased “freedom of navigation” crossings of both the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea to reinforce that both are international waterways, angering Beijing.
China conducted military exercises in April to simulate the encirclement of Taiwan after Tsai met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
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Taiwan says 68 Chinese warplanes, 10 vessels detected near island
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Taiwan says 68 Chinese warplanes, 10 vessels detected near island
- Taiwan says some of the planes and warships heading to unspecified area of the Western Pacific
Three Afghan migrants die of cold while trying to cross into Iran
- More than 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return to Afghanistan by the Iranian authorities between January and the end of November 2025
AFGHANISTAN: Three Afghans died from exposure in freezing temperatures in the western province of Herat while trying to illegally enter Iran, a local army official said on Saturday.
“Three people who wanted to illegally cross the Iran-Afghanistan border have died because of the cold weather,” the Afghan army official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He added that a shepherd was also found dead in the mountainous area of Kohsan from the cold.
The migrants were part of a group that attempted to cross into Iran on Wednesday and was stopped by Afghan border forces.
“Searches took place on Wednesday night, but the bodies were only found on Thursday,” the army official said.
More than 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return to Afghanistan by the Iranian authorities between January and the end of November 2025, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), which said that the majority were “forced and coerced returns.”
“These mass returns in adverse circumstances have strained Afghanistan’s already overstretched resources and services” which leads to “risks of onward and new displacement, including return movements back into Pakistan and Iran and onward,” UNHCR posted on its site dedicated to Afghanistan’s situation.
This week, Amnesty International called on countries to stop forcibly returning people to Afghanistan, citing a “real risk of serious harm for returnees.”
Hit by two major earthquakes in recent months and highly vulnerable to climate change, Afghanistan faces multiple challenges.
It is subject to international sanctions particularly due to the exclusion of women from many jobs and public places, described by the UN as “gender apartheid.”
More than 17 million people in the country are facing acute food insecurity, the UN World Food Programme said Tuesday.
