TAIPEI: Taiwan’s defense ministry said Tuesday it had detected 23 Chinese aircraft around the island in a window of less than three hours.
China maintains a near-daily military presence around self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
“Since 8:20 a.m. (0020 GMT), we have successively detected a total of 23 aircraft... including 16 that crossed the median line,” the defense ministry said, referring to a line bisecting the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from China.
The ministry statement, issued at 10:40 a.m., said that the aircraft included fighter jets, transport aircraft and drones.
Taiwan’s “military is using joint intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance methods to closely monitor the situation.”
Tuesday’s surge comes after China sent in 19 aircraft, eight naval vessels, and four Chinese coast guard ships around Taiwan within a 24-hour period ending at 6 am Tuesday, according to Taipei’s daily report.
Tensions on the strait have been ramped up since the May 20 inauguration of Taiwan’s new President Lai Ching-te.
China said his inauguration speech — in which he vowed to defend Taiwan’s democracy and freedom — was akin to a “confession of Taiwan independence.”
Three days later it launched war games around Taiwan, encircling the island with warplanes and ships as a “punishment” for “separatist acts.”
China has said it would never renounce the use of force to take control of Taiwan.
Taiwan detects 23 Chinese aircraft around the island
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Taiwan detects 23 Chinese aircraft around the island
- China maintains a near-daily military presence around self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory
- China has said it would never renounce the use of force to take control of Taiwan
Chile wildfires leave 19 dead amid extreme heat as scores evacuated
- Fast-moving wildfires being worsened by intense heat, winds
- Firefighters battling 23 active blazes spreading toward cities
CONCEPCION, Chile: Wildfires in Chile have left at least 19 people dead, authorities said on Monday, as the government carried out mass evacuations and fought nearly two dozen blazes exacerbated by intense heat and high winds.
While weather conditions overnight helped control some fires, the largest were still active, with adverse conditions expected throughout the day, security minister, Luis Cordero, said at a news briefing on Monday.
“The projection we have today is of high temperatures,” Cordero said, and the main worry was that new fires would be triggered throughout the region.
Parts of central and southern Chile were under extreme heat warnings with temperatures expected to reach up to 37 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).
STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN NUBLE, BIO BIO
As of late Sunday, Chile’s CONAF forestry agency said firefighters were combating 23 fires across the country, the largest of which were in regions of Ñuble and Bío Bío, where President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe.
Over 20,000 hectares (77 square miles) have been razed so far, an area about the size of Seattle, with the largest fire surpassing 14,000 hectares on the outskirts of the coastal city Concepcion.
The fast-moving blaze tore through the towns of Penco and Lirquen over the weekend, destroying hundreds of homes and killing several people, with authorities still assessing the damage.
HEAT, BLAZES ALSO IMPACT ARGENTINA
Authorities are currently battling the fire as it threatened Manzano prison on the edge of Concepcion and the town of Tome to the north.
Both Chile and Argentina rang in the new year with heat waves which have continued into January. Earlier this month, wildfires broke out in Argentina’s Patagonia, burning around 15,000 hectares.
