Taiwan’s defence ministry says it has detected 'increased' number of Chinese naval ships

(10 Dec 2024) RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Taipei - 10 December 2024 1. Wide of Taiwan military officers walking into press conference at Ministry of National Defence 2. Close of defence ministry logo 3. Close Ministry of National Defence sign 4. Wide of journalists at press conference 5. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-sheng, member of Taiwan's Office of Deputy Chief of General Staff for Intelligence: “At the moment we can't call it a military drill because they never announced it. So, I would like to seize the opportunity to make it clear on the issue of whether to announce it or not. If you announce it, everyone will know, and it means 'I am coming' so people can expect at least that the amount of armed forces around us reaches a certain level. And what follows will be series of military threats. This might include creating public opinions via media and other approaches. These have already become a pattern." 6. Mid of journalist asking question 7. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-sheng, member of Taiwan's Office of Deputy Chief of General Staff for Intelligence: “The meaning behind this operation is to create restlessness so that people would pay attention. This is already one thing. Secondly, we must not only monitor what is going on in our region, but also watch out for what happens outside this region. And based on national defence concerns, no matter whether Beijing announces the military drills or not, the defence ministry will take on these responsibilities, take it seriously and respond following the rules.” 8. Wide of journalist asking a question 9. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-sheng, member of Taiwan's Office of Deputy Chief of General Staff for Intelligence: “The amount of vessels around us, PLA (People's Liberation Army) navy and Coastguard, has increased. Since yesterday, these (Chinese) vessels near our east coast and even southeast… (have gathered). If you have access to a map, you will easily see that there is a PLA Navy ‘wall’ on our east side in the Pacific on the First Island Chain. But at our ADIZ (air defence identification zone), there is another ‘wall’. These two walls… the message they are sending is very simple: Taiwan Strait is ours.” 10. Officials leaving conference STORYLINE: China's secretive military appears to be up to something around Taiwan, but it's unclear exactly what. Taiwan's Defence Ministry said Tuesday that it had detected a dozen Chinese naval ships and 47 military planes in the past 24 hours but no live-fire activity as in previous drills. Taiwan's military has been bracing for possible exercises by China in response to a recent overseas trip by Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, that included Hawaii and Guam, an American territory. Without any announcement from China, Taiwan officials are calling it training. But they are noting that training can become drills, and drills can become war. “At the moment we can't call it a military drill because they never announced it.,” Lt. Gen. Hsieh Jih-sheng said at a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan's military set up an emergency response centre on Monday in response to increased Chinese naval activity and the announcement of flight restrictions in seven zones off China's east coast. The restrictions are in place until Wednesday. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and opposes the self-governing island having official interactions with other countries, and in particular, the United States. Lai spoke with with U.S. congressional leaders by phone while in Guam last week. AP video shot by Taijing Wu Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/584a0b7ef6234643a3d0e1ce1c9f5e1d