Taiwan’s defence ministry, on Tuesday, released a statement saying that it spotted two Russian warships off its eastern coast and then sent its own aircraft and ships to keep watch.
In a statement, the ministry said the two frigates sailed in a northerly direction off Taiwan’s east coast and then “departed from our response zone” in a southeasterly direction off the port city of Suao, which is home to a major Taiwanese naval base.
Taiwan’s military sent aircraft and ships to keep a watch and also activated shore-based projectile systems, it further added without providing extensive details.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that a detachment of ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet had entered the southern parts of the Philippine Sea to perform tasks as part of a long-range sea passage.
Taiwan has joined the United States and its allies in enacting wide-ranging sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Taiwan scrambles jets as 10 Chinese warplanes cross median line of strait
Earlier this month, 10 Chinese warplanes were spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait after which combat patrols were carried out by four Chinese warships.
For the second time in a week, renewed Chinese military activity has been reported by Taiwan after 37 Chinese military aircraft flew into the air defence zone of the island on Thursday, some of which then flew into the western Pacific.
China, which has continued to claim the democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, in the past three years has regularly flown its air force near the island, though it has not entered into the territorial air space of Taiwan.
Taiwan’s defence ministry, in a short statement, said that around 2 pm (0600 GMT) on Sunday, 24 Chinese air force planes were detected by them, which included J-10, J-11, J-16 and Su-30 fighters, as well as H-6 bombers.
The ministry stated that 10 had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which separates the two countries and was considered an unofficial barrier earlier.
Four Chinese naval ships were also involved in “joint combat readiness patrols”, stated the ministry.
Taiwan stated that it has its own fighters and deployed land-based missile systems and ships to keep watch.
(With inputs from agencies)
