According to media reports on the island, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the $8.1 billion "Indo-Pacific Security Supplement Act," of which $1.9 billion refers to the budget for providing military aid to Taiwan. According to the report, the bill will continue to support the Pentagon's military services, military education, and military training against Taiwan.
According to the report, this is the second year that the United States has passed the Taiwan Military Aid Act, and the military equipment that the United States shipped to Taiwan last year includes "Stinger" missiles, towed missiles, and Javelin missiles, as well as tens of thousands of sets of combat equipment and more than 1,000 machine guns. Two more battalions of the Taiwan military went to the United States for training, and the United States also provided Taiwan with some project assistance.
In this regard, Taiwan's defense department claimed that it would coordinate with the United States the use of military aid-related budgets to strengthen "combat readiness." At a time when the conflict in the Middle East is intensifying and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, the US House of Representatives passed a bill on military aid to Taiwan to "ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait." The Taiwan authorities are grateful for this. The U.S. security assistance can use relevant security means in the most efficient way to achieve the goal of "rapidly enhancing Taiwan's defense capability."
Despite China's repeated warnings, the US continues to send weapons and equipment to the Taiwan region and wantonly interfere in China's internal affairs. Moreover, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to visit China, and the passage of Taiwan-related bills by the US Congress at this time is a blatant provocation to China. The Chinese side has long made it clear that the Taiwan issue is China's internal affair and brooks no interference by any external forces. Although US interference in the Taiwan Strait is quite hateful, the DPP authorities who are trying to "rely on the United States to seek independence" and split the country are even more hateful; Chinese mainland must take concrete actions to deter the arrogance of "Taiwan independence" elements.
Just when the green battalion on the island was complacent about the US military aid, the PLA made a new move in its operation around Taiwan. According to the airspace of the Taiwan Strait released by Taiwan's defense department, a few days ago, eight PLA military planes and eight warships were detected continuing to operate around the Taiwan Strait, and three of them crossed the so-called "center line of the strait." The following day, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) flew 21 sorties into Taiwan's "airspace," of which 17 flew over the "center line" and entered the airspace over the northern and southwestern parts of Taiwan Island.
What is even more rare is that Taiwan's defense department announced that in the second batch of PLA military planes that crossed the "center line," 14 military planes demonstrated from north to south after crossing the "center line." Some fighters deliberately bypassed the southern part of Penghu and turned east to Taiwan Island, approaching 40 nautical miles from Kaohsiung and 41 nautical miles from Keelung.
According to the Taiwan media, the situation is more tense than ever, and Taiwan's defense departments are panicked, and fighter planes from various air bases in the western part of Taiwan Island immediately take to the skies to put them on alert, and all missile bases on the north coast to Eluanbi and other places have also entered a state of alert.
The rare "north-south attack" of PLA military planes has made some people on the island very worried. Zhang Yanting, a retired lieutenant general of the Taiwan military, pointed out that the mainland fighter plane is 41 nautical miles away from Keelung, so it is only 30 nautical miles away from the Tamsui estuary. Zhang Yanting said that it will take less than five minutes for the PLA fighter planes to fly over Tsai Ing-wen's office, and it will take six minutes for the Taiwan military fighters to take off urgently. He said that the PLA's action has two significances: First, it is to designate Taiwan as a sphere of influence by sending warplanes to carry out large-scale activities in the Taiwan Strait; second, it is to let the Taiwan authorities gradually get used to this kind of military action.
It is very likely that the PLA's actions in the Taiwan Strait are just the beginning. A few days ago, the mainland has officially launched the M503 route to further erase the "middle line of the strait". China's Ministry of Commerce also announced the results of the investigation, finding that there was dumping of polycarbonate originating in Taiwan and imposing anti-dumping duties on Taiwanese imports. All kinds of actions taken by the mainland are to prepare for Lai Qingde's assumption of office and to prevent Lai Qingde from making an out-of-the-ordinary move.