Taiwan reports 28 Chinese fighter planes in its air defence zone

As tensions in the Taiwan Strait have risen, Taiwan’s defence ministry reported seeing 28 Chinese air force aircraft in its air defence zone on Wednesday morning. Taipei claims Beijing is harassing it on a regular basis. Taiwan, which has a democratic government and which China considers to be its own territory, has complained recently about increased military exercises near the island as Beijing tries to bolster its claims to sovereignty. According to Taiwan’s defence ministry, Chinese jets, including J-10 fighters, began flying towards the southwest corner of the island’s air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, starting at 6 a.m. (2200 GMT Tuesday). According to the government, some Chinese aircraft crossed the Bashi Channel to conduct training exercises with the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Pacific. The ministry continued by employing the standard language for its response to such Chinese incursions: “Taiwan’s forces monitored the situation, including sending up its own air force planes and activating air defence systems.” According to Taiwan’s defence ministry on Monday, a Chinese navy formation commanded by the Shandong entered the western Pacific for training. Later, according to the Japanese defence ministry, the Shandong and five accompanying Chinese military ships—including two frigates and two missile destroyers—were observed Wednesday morning around 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of the Miyako island in Japan. Japan sent a destroyer to observe the Chinese ships and confirmed that the Shandong was home to jet fighters and helicopters practising landings, the ministry stated. Separately, a senior official acquainted with security preparations in the area told the media that more than 20 Chinese warships, including Type 055 destroyers, entered the Pacific on Wednesday. The person claimed that the Chinese naval manoeuvre and the carrier group’s training drills represented a “obvious challenge” to recent military operations by the United States and its allies in the area. “They want to show that they got the total control of the west of the first island chain,” the person said, referring to the area which runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China’s coastal seas. The Taiwan Strait was traversed by a U.S. and a Canadian vessel on Saturday, according to the U.S. Navy. This was the second such joint expedition since June, and it took place while the leaders of both nations were in India for the G20 conference. The U.S. Navy reported that this week saw a number of drills between the two nations’ navies in the South China Sea. In reaction to what it terms “collusion” between Taiwan independence movements and the U.S., China has stepped up its military operations in the area surrounding Taiwan in recent years. (With agency inputs)