Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
United States of America condemns the intrusion of Malaysian airspace in Borneo and Taiwan by fighter jet crews China in recent weeks.
The US Air Force Commander for the Pacific, Kenneth Wilsbach, said he did not expect China to be so aggressive in the region.
“We miscalculated in the region when there were activities where they entered the airspace of people they shouldn’t be,” Wilsbach was quoted as saying. AFP, Friday (4/6).
Wilsbach made this statement after China entered Taiwan’s airspace several times in the past year.
China has drawn attention again after 16 of its fighter jets breached Malaysian airspace over a disputed area in the South China Sea earlier this week.
So far, China has continued to claim that Taiwan is still part of their sovereign territory under the One China Policy.
“I believe this is China’s strategy to put pressure on Taiwan’s air force,” Wilsbach said.
For the incident in Malaysia, China claimed that they were only carrying out routine exercises and did not enter the airspace of the neighboring country.
China is indeed embroiled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea with a number of countries, including Malaysia and the Philippines.
The Philippines had filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice regarding China’s claims. The court also rejected China’s claim, but Beijing did not accept the decision.
Seeing China’s movement, the US began to think about moving its assets around the region so that it would not be an easy target.
“We researched every piece of land in the area and we analyzed the possibilities for use as a place to operate,” said Wilsbach.
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