14 Chinese Aircraft Enter Taiwan's Airspace; Beijing Invasion Threats Should Not Be 'Underestimated'

A total of 14 Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels were detected around Taiwan on Friday morning, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense.

In a post the same day, the defense ministry said they were monitoring the situation amid China's continuous taunting of Taiwan.

"14 PLA aircraft and 4 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today," the ministry reported. "R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities."

The display came as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to visit Taiwan.

With the military displays of China over Taiwan's territories for the past months, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping's moves should not be underestimated.

CIA director William Burns said Thursday that Xi has already ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, Reuters reported.

"Now, that does not mean that he's decided to conduct an invasion in 2027, or any other year, but it's a reminder of the seriousness of his focus and his ambition," Burns said, as quoted by Reuters.

"Our assessment at CIA is that I wouldn't underestimate President Xi's ambitions with regard to Taiwan," he said, adding that Xi was probably trying to draw lessons from Russia's "poor performance" in the Ukraine invasion.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told CBC News that China was possibly taking notes from the Russia-Ukraine war for its potential invasion of the island.

"I think what the Chinese are learning from [the war in Ukraine] is the weakness of the Russian military so that they can strengthen themselves in their future possible attack against Taiwan," Wu said. "Of course, this is going to be a wrong lesson, because war means devastation."

In a post dated Jan. 9, the ministry said they were not seeking escalation or conflict with China as the country's provocation affects the stability of security in the Taiwan Strait and neighboring regions.