TAIPEI, Aug 12 — Taiwan has condemned China’s plan to hold a navy drill with Indonesia this month off the democratic island’s east coast, saying Beijing seeks to create the “false impression” that it has jurisdiction over the area.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and insists it has authority over the waters surrounding the island, which Taipei rejects.

The Chinese defence ministry said yesterday one of its warships and an Indonesian frigate will conduct a “passage exercise” east of Taiwan in mid-August to “enhance the joint operational capabilities of the two navies” and “jointly safeguard regional peace and stability”.

Taiwan’s top China policy body hit back late yesterday, saying it “strongly condemned the CCP military provocation”, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

“This move is, in reality... aimed at creating the false impression for the international community that the CCP has jurisdiction over waters east of Taiwan and blatantly infringing upon our national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a statement.

The Indonesian military did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

China’s announcement came as Taiwan holds its largest military drills of the year, aimed at preparing its population for a potential Chinese invasion.

Beijing deploys warships, fighter jets and coast guard vessels around Taiwan on an almost daily basis to assert its claim of sovereignty.

In June, Chinese ships began to patrol an area of the Western Pacific near Taiwan’s east coast, which Taipei branded as “provocative” and “expansionism in disguise”.

During that operation, the China Coast Guard for the first time radioed cargo ships passing Taiwan for information about their crew and destination.

That was followed last week by China’s Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration announcing “traffic control measures” for the Taiwan Strait as Typhoon Dolphin swept towards the region.

Ships entering the sensitive waterway from the south would be “required to strictly comply with the traffic control regulations, seek shelter in safe waters, and follow the instructions of on-site maritime authorities to ensure safety,” the August 5 announcement said.

Taiwan’s MAC described the order as a “trampling of the international order and norms” and “utterly ridiculous”. — AFP