New Chinese Army Intensification Leads to Over 30 Warplanes Entering Taiwan’s Air Defense Zone
As a result of the new intensification of the Chinese army’s invasion, more than 30 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone in just six hours.
Sun Li-fang, a spokesman for the island’s defense ministry, said Thursday that “37 Chinese warplanes” had entered Taiwan’s air defense zone.
We are watching closely
He also added that around 11:00 a.m. “some of them completed their course towards the western Pacific Ocean for long-range reconnaissance exercises.”
In turn, the ministry wrote on Twitter that the Taiwanese military was “closely monitoring the situation,” adding that patrol aircraft, naval ships and ground-based missile systems were deployed in response.
But she did not say if the incursions were continuing, according to the AFP report.
These new incursions come a day after the United States, the Philippines and Japan completed their first joint coast guard exercise in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims as its own.
The increase in Chinese air incursions and naval exercises around Taiwan often coincides with Taipei’s establishment of diplomatic ties with other countries.
Analysts see increased Chinese air incursions into Taiwan’s defensive zone as part of a broader “grey zone” tactic that keeps the island under pressure.
Notably, China considers Taiwan an integral part of its territory and has not succeeded in annexing Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
But she claims she will one day bring it back under Chinese sovereignty, by force if necessary.
In recent years, Beijing has stepped up its air incursions into the air defense identification zone on the island, and in 2022 doubled the number of sorties flown the previous year in the sector.
