Two U.S. navy ships passed through the Taiwan Strait from Monday to Wednesday, the first such transit under the new Trump administration. The action triggered a burst of Chinese military activity in the area.
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00:00Two U.S. Navy ships, a destroyer and a research vessel have passed through the Taiwan Strait
00:05from Monday through Wednesday in what is the first Taiwan Strait transit under the new
00:09U.S. administration.
00:11What's interesting about this transit is that it was first reported by China, with Beijing
00:15angrily reacting to the U.S. mission, saying that the U.S. is sending the wrong signals
00:20and adding that these kinds of transits increase security risks.
00:25The U.S. says the transit was routine and in line with international law, but did not
00:29post this on its website, marking a bit of a deviation from their normal protocol where
00:34they do make some of these transits public.
00:36Here in Taiwan, the Defense Ministry reported 30 Chinese military aircraft, as well as seven
00:41naval ships operating around the country.
00:44Twenty-three of those aircraft flew a bit closer and breached Taiwan's Air Defense Identification
00:49Zone, or ADIZ.
00:51The military uses the ADIZ as a defensive buffer, even though it's not part of Taiwan's
00:56airspace.
00:57These numbers are a bit of an indication on how China is reacting to the transit, as those
01:01numbers are much higher than the usual ten or so aircraft that Taiwan usually sees in
01:06the region.
01:07Earlier this morning, I spoke to Taiwan's Defense Ministry about the surge in Chinese
01:12military aircraft, and this is what they had to say.
01:27Taiwan's military says it scrambled its own fighter jets and deployed missile defense
01:38systems for extra measures, but says that the situation is normal.
01:43It's important to remember, though, that these kinds of transits in the Taiwan Strait by
01:46the U.S. do happen every two to three months, with the last transit happening back in November.
01:52But again, as this is the first transit under Trump 2.0, all eyes are now on China to see
01:58if they step up military activity and test this new administration on how they react
02:03to tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
02:05Ryan Woo and Jaime O'Connor in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.