TAIPEI, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s government has condemned “dangerous” planned Chinese navy drills with an Indonesian warship off the island’s east coast, saying Beijing was trying to create a false impression to the international community that it controls those waters.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and in June began coast guard patrols off the island’s east coast, causing anger in Taipei and concern in Washington and some other Western capitals.
China’s defence ministry said on Tuesday the drill, to take place in mid-August in a location east of Taiwan it did not detail, would be a “navigation exercise” with an Indonesian navy ship, a highly unusual move given China does not generally hold exercises with foreign militaries near Taiwan.
Late on Tuesday, Taiwan’s China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said the drill was a “military provocation” and Beijing should “immediately stop this dangerous behaviour that undermines the status quo.”
Following a recent series of Chinese actions, including so-called “routine law-enforcement patrols” to the east of Taiwan, China is now attempting to conduct military exercises with “relevant countries” in waters east of Taiwan, it said in a statement.
“This is, in reality, political manipulation, ‘exercises in name, expansion in fact’, aimed at creating a false impression before the international community that the Chinese communists have jurisdiction over waters east of Taiwan,” it added.
Taiwan’s government will continue to closely monitor developments in the surrounding area, take necessary and appropriate measures, and firmly safeguard national sovereignty as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the council said.
Indonesia’s navy has yet to comment on the planned drills.
China recognises no sovereignty claims by Taiwan’s government and its military operates around the island on an almost daily basis.
Like most countries, Indonesia has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the island is home to more than 300,000 Indonesian migrant workers.
Taiwan’s government says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future and has repeatedly denounced Chinese military pressure.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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