Taiwan sees only warships and warplanes as China talks peace with opposition

By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) – Taiwanese officials are tracking what they view as a worrying rise in Chinese naval activity and military pressure against the island, even as Beijing presses a message of peace and cooperation in meetings with Taiwan’s opposition leader.

China’s tactics are all the more unnerving for the Taipei government given the opposition continues to stymie a defence spending rise that Washington has pushed for. The buildup also comes at a time with the U.S. focused on the conflict in the Middle East and President Donald Trump readying for a May meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.

“China is continuously and persistently expanding its military capabilities, and the military threat it poses to us is becoming increasingly severe,” Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo told lawmakers on Thursday amid anger among the ruling party over the decision by members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to skip talks on stalled defence-spending.

Taiwan has to show its determination to defend itself to the U.S. and other like-minded partners, he added. 

“But the most frightening scenario is – if all of our international allies were to question whether we have such resolve, what would we face? I cannot imagine it.”

China views Taiwan as one of its provinces and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.

Two Taiwanese security officials told Reuters that China has deployed nearly 100 naval and coast guard vessels in and around the South and East China Seas this week. One official said China usually deploys around 50-60 ships in the region, so the increase in the past weeks was “very rare”, especially because this time of year is not usually busy for Chinese naval drills. 

A second highlighted the timing of the increased presence, coming with Washington focused on Iran, and as Taiwan’s opposition leader visits China.

Meeting KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, Xi said people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait want peace and cooperation, but added China will “absolutely not tolerate” independence for Taiwan.

The KMT says there is “no connection whatsoever” between Cheng’s trip and government defence spending plans.

A ‘NEW NORMAL’ FROM CHINA?

China’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The number of vessels was corroborated by separate intelligence reports reviewed by Reuters, which showed a notable increase in Chinese vessels over the last few weeks, from nearly 70 at the end of March to nearly 100 this week.

Two other, non-Taiwanese, security sources, confirmed the numbers, though said they viewed it as more of a “new normal” from China rather than an alarming anomaly.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the numbers of the Chinese ships around the same time last year.

China’s daily military activities around the island have been maintained during Cheng’s China visit.

On Friday, Taiwan’s defence ministry reported seven Chinese military aircraft operating around the island in the previous 24 hours, as well as seven warships.

Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council which runs the coast guard, this week took the unusual step of posting on her Facebook account the locations and names of the Chinese warships in waters around the island.

“Because the leader of the main opposition party is planning to meet with Chinese leadership … it is necessary to appropriately disclose to the public and the international community the situation of China’s harassment in our waters, so that our people are informed and understand the serious implications,” she wrote.

‘RESERVED’ AIRSPACE OFF CHINA’S EAST COAST

Added to the naval activity, China has also declared “reserved” airspace off its eastern coast, running from March 27 to May 5 – which is around a week before Trump is due to visit China. 

China has provided no explanation for that, but it has previously issued such notifications defining a block of airspace as off-limits to civilian or foreign aircraft ahead of military drills. 

Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Wednesday, Tsai Ming-yen, head of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, said he believed China was using this to test how often U.S. aircraft operate in the area.

“This may also be politically intended to demonstrate the state of U.S. air activity in the Indo-Pacific region prior to the Trump-Xi meeting,” he added.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee, Ben Blanchard and ; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Washington and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)