Taiwan says it has not stepped up military deployments on frontline islands

21/2/2024 11:44

        Taiwan has not increased military deployments on frontline islands facing China and there is nothing unusual in the military situation around Taiwan, the defence ministry said on Wednesday amid a rise in tensions with Beijing.
        
        Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the island's rejection, has been wary of efforts by Beijing to ramp up pressure on Taipei following last month's election of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing considers a dangerous separatist.
        
        China's coast guard on Sunday began regular patrols around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands after two Chinese nationals died trying to flee Taiwan's coast guard after their boat entered prohibited waters.
        
        On Monday, China's coast guard boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat in waters close to Kinmen, a move Taiwan denounced as causing "panic".
        
        Speaking at a regular news briefing in Taipei, Taiwan defence ministry intelligence office Huang Ming-chieh said there was currently "nothing abnormal" in China's military movements around Taiwan.