Chinese Navy Destroyer Spotted Off Neighbor’s Shores

A Chinese warship was rebuffed by Taiwan’s navy on Thursday while approaching the island’s east coast, according to an open-source report, in another sign of heightened tensions between the neighbors.

An image supplied to Newsweek by the ship and plane spotting group Taiwan ADIZ showed the silhouette and hull number of China’s Type 052D destroyer the Nanjing, which is known by NATO under the Luyang II class.

The 7,500-ton ship, which is assigned to the Chinese military’s East Sea Fleet, was steaming in waters between Nan’an township, in Taiwan’s eastern Yilan county, and Japan’s westernmost inhabited island of Yonaguni, less than 70 miles away.

The international waterway, and other outlets nearby, is among the few Chinese naval and air forces use to exit the so-called first island chain and reach the Pacific. Their presence in the waters has increased as China’s “far-seas” power projection has matured.

The latest standoff, first reported by Taiwan’s Liberty Times newspaper, involved one of Taiwan’s Kang Ding-class frigates, Taiwan ADIZ said in a post on its social media pages.

The unidentified Taiwan navy frigate—roughly half the tonnage of its Chinese counterpart—sought to keep the Nanjing away from the island’s 24-nautical mile continuous zone, the group said.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own despite Taipei’s repeated rejections, and successive Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, have refused to rule out one day seizing the island by force.

Adm. John Aquilino, the outgoing head of the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told the House Armed Services Committee earlier this week that China’s military would likely be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, although whether Xi intended to use the capability could not be known.

China responded via its new Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, who said: “We will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland.” Beijing “firmly opposes” U.S. attempts to play up China’s military threat, Lin said.

The Chinese Defense Ministry could not be reached for comment.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry’s daily activity report on Friday said it had detected six Chinese navy vessels around Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on March 22.

The warships were among 36 Chinese military aircraft operating around Taiwan, 13 of which entered the island’s air defense zone, Taipei said, marking a second consecutive day of major maneuvers in the area.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.