Taiwan’s security chief warned that China had deployed more than 100 vessels in regional waters amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
| Photo Credit: AP
Taiwan’s Security Chief said Saturday (May 23, 2026) that China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in regional waters stretching from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and Western Pacific.
The deployment happened in the past few days after U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with his counterpart Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, National Security Council Chief Joseph Wu said on X.
“In this part of the world,#China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Mr. Wu said in the post.
China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.
Mr. Wu’s remarks came after Mr. Trump on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) referred to “the Taiwan problem” when asked if he would speak to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about arms sales to the democratic island.
“I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he had a great meeting with Mr. Xi during his state visit.
“We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem,” Mr. Trump said.
A Taiwan security official told AFP on the condition of anonymity that Chinese vessels had been detected before the summit in Beijing, but that the numbers went above 100 in recent days.
Published – May 23, 2026 06:28 pm IST