Taiwan Says China Has Sent Naval Ships into Nearby Waters Ahead of Anticipated Drills

This handout photograph taken between December 7-8, 2024 and released on December 9 by the Taiwan Coast Guard shows a crewmember on board a Taiwan Coast Guard ship monitoring a Chinese coast guard vessel in waters east of Taiwan. (Taiwan Coast Guard handout / AFP)
This handout photograph taken between December 7-8, 2024 and released on December 9 by the Taiwan Coast Guard shows a crewmember on board a Taiwan Coast Guard ship monitoring a Chinese coast guard vessel in waters east of Taiwan. (Taiwan Coast Guard handout / AFP)
TT

Taiwan Says China Has Sent Naval Ships into Nearby Waters Ahead of Anticipated Drills

This handout photograph taken between December 7-8, 2024 and released on December 9 by the Taiwan Coast Guard shows a crewmember on board a Taiwan Coast Guard ship monitoring a Chinese coast guard vessel in waters east of Taiwan. (Taiwan Coast Guard handout / AFP)
This handout photograph taken between December 7-8, 2024 and released on December 9 by the Taiwan Coast Guard shows a crewmember on board a Taiwan Coast Guard ship monitoring a Chinese coast guard vessel in waters east of Taiwan. (Taiwan Coast Guard handout / AFP)

China's military appears to be preparing for widely anticipated drills in response to a recent visit by Taiwan's president to Hawaii and Guam.

Taiwan's defense ministry said Monday that it detected Chinese naval and coast guard ships entering the Taiwan Strait and the western Pacific and that China had restricted airspace along its southeast coast through Wednesday.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Chinese side.

It comes as US President-elect Donald Trump said he would not commit to defending Taiwan if China were to invade during his presidency.

China says Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes American support and military sales to the self-governing island. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te made stops in Hawaii and Guam during a weeklong tour of the Pacific that ended Friday.

China maintains that Taiwan is a province that should not have its own president or foreign relations.

Taiwan's defense ministry said it has set up an emergency response center and launched combat readiness exercises in response to Chinese activity in the Taiwan Strait. It did not say what those exercises entailed.

“It must be pointed out that there is no such thing as a defense ministry in Taiwan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said when asked about the Taiwanese statement. “Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affairs. China will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China, which views Lai as a separatist, held major military exercises around Taiwan following his inauguration in May and his national day speech in October. It also held a major drill after Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan in 2022.

The Taiwan defense ministry statement said China had restricted air space in seven zones off Fujian province, which faces Taiwan, and off Zhejiang province, which stretches north from Fujian to Shanghai.

Trump was asked during a televised interview if he would commit to defending Taiwan.

“I never say, because I have to negotiate things, right?” he told NBC's “Meet the Press.”

He said he had spoken in recent days with Chinese leader Xi Jinping but the two did not discuss the Taiwan issue.

“We talked about other things,” he said. “But I have a very good relationship, and I hope he doesn’t do it.”



Italy Says No US Extradition Request for Detained Iranian Businessman So Far

A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
TT

Italy Says No US Extradition Request for Detained Iranian Businessman So Far

A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)
A seagull stands in front of an Italian flag flying at half-mast on the Altare della Patri-Vittorio Emanuele II monument in Rome, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. (AFP Photo)

The United States has not submitted any formal request of extradition for an Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini detained in Milan, Italy's justice minister said in an interview published on Thursday.
"The matter of Abedini is purely legal ... regardless of the (freeing of Italian journalist) Cecilia Sala. It is premature to talk of extradition, also because no formal request has been sent to our ministry so far," Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told daily La Stampa.
Abedini is wanted by the United States on suspicion of involvement in a drone strike against US forces in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement and said last week the detention of the Iranian national amounted to hostage-taking.
His arrest has been linked to the detention three days later of Italian reporter Cecilia Sala, who was seized in Tehran on Dec. 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa and freed on Jan. 8.