China sends fighter jets - Taiwan on alert

Created: 01/24/2022, 09:49 am

By: Daniel Dillman

A Chinese J-16 fighter jet in action.

(Archive image) © Handout/Taiwan Ministry Of Nati/imago

The People's Republic of China is sending dozens of fighter jets into Taiwanese airspace in response to US-Japan naval maneuvers.

Taipei - The People's Republic of China* is flexing its muscles.

According to a report by the AFP news agency, Beijing* has sent a total of 39 fighter jets into the airspace over Taiwan.

In response, the Defense Ministry in the capital, Taipei, has placed its own air force and missile defense system on alert.

According to information from the US news channel CNN, the fleet of Chinese aircraft consisted of 24 J-16 fighter jets, supported by 10 J-10 aircraft.

In addition, a nuclear-capable H-6 bomber was also involved in the maneuvers over Taiwan.

China and Taiwan: Fighter jets trigger the worst incident in over a year

The incursion of such a large number of Chinese warplanes into Taiwan's air defense zone is the most serious incident in the region since October 2021, when a total of 149 warplanes were spotted near Taiwan during the four-day celebrations of China's National Day.

Since then, reports of target practice by the Chinese People's Liberation Army on dummy Taiwanese tanks* had also made the rounds.

The island state only began publishing its data on violations of its own air defense zone in September 2020.

The zone is significantly larger than the island's actual airspace and partially overlaps with China's.

The Chinese government in Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province of its own country.

So far, China has reacted harshly to all efforts to gain sovereignty over the island in the South China Sea.

In total, Taiwan recorded 969 invading Chinese fighter jets last year.

Taiwan crisis: China responds to US naval maneuvers

A day earlier, the US military* had also demonstrated its military strength in the region.

Two missile cruisers and five destroyer-class ships were part of a major naval exercise in the Philippine Sea - the region between the Pacific Ocean and the east coast of Taiwan.

"Freedom at its finest," Vice Admiral Karl Thomas tweeted in comment on the maneuvers the US and Japanese forces conducted jointly.

The United States Navy confirmed that the massive contingent of warships in the area would be conducting training missions to help "maintain a free and open region in the Indo-Pacific." (dil/afp)