China will impose a no-fly zone in northern Taiwan on April 16, coinciding with "space activities," Taipei's Transport Ministry said.
"China has unilaterally created a no-fly zone in an area where many international routes converge, to restrict flights based on 'space activities'," the Taiwanese ministry said, adding that the closure will last 27 minutes, from 9.30 to 9.57 (from 03.30 to 03.57 Italian), on Sunday 16 April.
The announcement comes after three days of major Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan, with simulated precision attacks, which the island's government has condemned.
China "seems to be trying to be ready to unleash war against Taiwan", said Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, according to which the island "must prepare".
US intelligence believes that Xi Jinping has ordered the military to be ready for the invasion by 2027. Wu replies: "Chinese leaders will think twice before deciding to use force against Taiwan", but Taiwan simply needs to be prepared ". Beijing launched its menacing aero-naval maneuver around Taiwan after a visit by President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States, where she met with
several lawmakers. Asked by CNN whether the visit cost too much for Taipei, Minister Wu he replied, "China cannot prescribe how Taiwan makes its friendships.
And China cannot dictate how our friends want to help Taiwan."
And President Tsai herself defended her trip abroad to Central America (Guatemala and Belize), characterized by double transit through the USA (including the one in Los Angeles where she met the Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy), because she demonstrated to the world the determination of the island in the defense of freedom and democracy, despite China reacting in retaliation with three days of maxi military maneuvers
around Taipei.
"Through this trip, we have again sent a message to the international community that Taiwan is determined
to safeguard freedom and democracy, which has won the recognition and support of our democratic partners," Tsai commented as she met a delegation of 10 Canadian lawmakers in Taipei.
Despite Monday's announcement that the maneuvers had ended, Beijing continued its military activities around Taiwan.
In fact, the island's defense ministry said this morning that it had detected 35 military aircraft and eight warships of the
Chinese People's Liberation Army in the last 24 hours.
A total of 14 jets, including 5 Su-30s, passed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan, Tsai: 'Irresponsible behavior from China'
French President Emanuel Macron in recent days on his visit to Beijing and meeting with Xi said that "the paradox would be if, overcome by panic, we believed we were only followers of America".
The question "Europeans have to answer is: is it in our interest to accelerate a crisis on Taiwan? No. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers of this argument and take a cue from the US agenda and a reaction excessive Chinese".
The Taiwanese foreign minister replied: "We are still trying to understand what he said and what he means for the French government", adding that the government in Paris "has shown support for Taiwan".
"Taiwan needs France", underlined today the representative of Taipei in Paris, Chihchung Wu, after the controversial statements of Emmanuel Macron, which irritated numerous analysts and political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, in particular, in Germany and in the United States.
"All these reactions show how much France's voice counts for stability and peace in the region," said the
Taipei exponent, adding: "We hope that France can play an even more positive role and become more involved."
Chihchung Wu specified that this does not necessarily mean military support.
''We are not naive, we are not here to hope that France will send the army to Taiwan, that France will die for Taiwan". But there are "many ways" of expressing one's support - he continued - and cited the example of the war in Ukraine, where France sends Caesar cannons." One of the causes of the war in Ukraine is that nobody
believed in war. "In Taiwan, everyone believes in war and therefore there will be no war," said Chihchung Wu .
China, for its part, has signaled that it will maintain pressure on Taiwan after three days of large-scale maneuvers that ended on Monday, pledging not to leave room for "separatist activities" and emphasizing that tensions are bound to remain.
"We will not leave room for any form of separatist activity in Taiwan", assured Zhu Fenglian, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, which belongs to the
central government, in the first briefing after the maneuvers.
