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Cambodia Condemns Thai Military Attack on Preah Vihear Temple | Cambodia Confirms Troops Still Holding Mount Trop as Thailand Cannot Raise Flag on Sovereign Territory | Cambodia and Thailand Clashes Enter Third Day as Casualties Rise to 33 | UN Security Council Urges Restraint as Thailand-Cambodia Clashes Intensify | Cambodia Condemns Thai Aggression at UN, Calls for Ceasefire and International Intervention | Techo Hun Sen Advises Military Strategy Amidst Border Clashes with Thailand | 45 Staff Rescued After Being Trapped at Preah Vihear Temple Amidst Clashes | BREAKING: Cambodia Denies Firing Projectiles into Laos, Accuses Thailand of Disinformation | Cambodia's Tourism Ministry Seeks Aid for Troops, Refugees; Reaffirms Commitment to Peace | BREAKING: Laos Denies Border Clash with Cambodia; Cambodia Rejects Thai Accusations of Shelling Laos | BREAKING NEWS: Andrew MacGregor Marshall Claims Queen Mother Sirikit Has Died, Alleging Concealment by Thai Authorities | BREAKING NEWS: Cambodia and Thailand Agree to Malaysian Mediation Amid Escalating Border Clashes | Ministry of Education Announces Postponement of 2025 Baccalaureate Examination | Cambodian Community in Korea Holds Mass Protest Against Thailand’s Invasion | Techo Hun Sen: “In Times of National Crisis, We Have No Right to Rest or Fall Ill” | UN Secretary-General and Cambodian Officials Call for Immediate Ceasefire Amid Border Clashes | Lieutenant General Duong Samnieng Dies Fighting Thai Invaders at Preah Vihear | BREAKING NEWS: Prime Minister Hun Manet to Lead Cambodian Delegation to Kuala Lumpur for Special Meeting on Ceasefire | Secretary Rubio Calls for Immediate De-escalation in Cambodia-Thailand Border Dispute | TOP NEWS: Cambodia and Thailand Agree to Ceasefire After Malaysia-Mediated Talks | ASEAN Issues Statement Supporting Ceasefire and Peaceful Resolution in Cambodia-Thailand Border Dispute | BREAKING: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Welcomes Cambodia-Thailand Ceasefire Declaration | TOP NEWS: President Trump Announces Ceasefire and Peace Agreements with Thailand and Cambodia | Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet Reports Successful Ceasefire Negotiation with Thailand, Thanks U.S. Support | Techo Hun Sen Commends Trump Initiative That Saved Thousands of Lives During Cambodia-Thailand Conflict | Cambodia and Thailand Engage in High-Level Military Meetings Amid Ceasefire Implementation | All My Feelings at This Time Are Connected to Some Major Tasks: Prime Minister Hun Manet Shares Personal Reflection on Social Media |

Taiwan Will Treat Chinese Military Flights into its Airspace as 'First Strike,' Defense Minister Says

HONG KONG: Chinese fighter jets or drones that intrude into Taiwan’s territorial airspace will be regarded as a “first strike,” Taiwan’s Defense Minister warned Wednesday, as the island seeks to step-up its defenses in response to Beijing’s military pressure.

Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng made the remarks while addressing lawmakers on the threats posed by China’s recent spate of escalatory measures, which has seen Chinese warplanes and drones fly near to the self-governing island.

Chiu did not specify how Taipei would respond if People’s Liberation Army aircraft breached the territorial limit, defined as 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from the island’s shores.

“In the past, we said we won’t be the first to strike, which meant we will not fire the first shot without (China) firing artillery shells or missiles first,” Chiu Kuo-cheng said.

“But now the definition has obviously changed, as China used means such as drones. So we have adjusted, and will view any crossing of aerial entities (into Taiwan’s territorial airspace) as a first strike,” Chiu said during a meeting of the Legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.

Earlier this year, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said the island’s military would take “necessary and forceful countermeasures as appropriate” against what she called Chinese gray zone warfare tactics, including “drone harassment.”

“We will not give China the pretext to create conflict. We will not provoke disputes and we will be restrained, yet that does not mean we will not counteract,” Tsai said.

Pressed by lawmakers Wednesday, Chiu said Taiwan’s military “definitely has its red line” when it comes to the island’s defense, and stressed that the military will launch “countermeasures” once the red line is crossed, without specifying what the red line is and what those countermeasures will be.

Taiwan lies fewer than 177 km off the coast of China. For more than 70 years the two sides have been governed separately, but that hasn’t stopped China’s ruling Communist Party from claiming the island as its own – despite having never controlled it.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said that “reunification” between China and Taiwan is inevitable and refused to rule out the use of force.

Tensions between Beijing and Taipei are at the highest they’ve been in recent decades, with the Chinese military holding major military drills near the island.

Following the visit of US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in early August, China stepped up military pressure tactics on the island, sending fighter jets across the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan and China.

For decades, the median line had served as an informal demarcation line between the two, with military incursions across it being rare.

But Chiu said Beijing has “shattered” that understanding.

He said China has “changed the status quo” and is “establishing a new normal.”

Chiu’s statement adds to the complicated security situation across the strait, following recent remarks by US President Joe Biden that US military personnel would defend Taiwan if the Chinese military were to launch an invasion of the democratically ruled island.

Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized the Communist Party’s claim to the self-governing island of 23 million. The US provides Taiwan with defensive weapons, but has remained intentionally ambiguous on whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

According to the US intelligence community, China is actively attempting to build a military capable of taking over Taiwan – even in the face of US support for the island.

Earlier this year, CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said that while China’s leaders would prefer to gain control of Taiwan through “nonmilitary means,” they want the country’s military to have the capability to take control of the island by 2027, should such a decision be made.

(SOURCE: CNN)



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