Chinese regime violated Taiwan’s airspace again with 19 military planes

Taiwan’s air force mobilized against the resumption of Chinese military activities on Sunday, and its defense ministry reported that 19 planes, including nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan’s air defense zone.

Taiwan, claimed by China, complained about the repeated missions of the Chinese air force near the autonomous island, in the southwestern part of its air defense zone, near the Pratas Islands, controlled by Taiwan.

The latest Chinese mission involved 10 J-16 fighters and four Su-30 fighters, as well as four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, and an anti-submarine aircraft, the Taiwan Defense Ministry reported. .

Taiwanese fighter jets were dispatched to repel the Chinese jets, while missile systems were deployed to monitor them, the ministry said.

The Chinese planes flew over an area closer to the Chinese coast than the Taiwanese, roughly northeast of Pratas, according to a map provided by the Taiwanese Defense Ministry.

This is not the first provocation of Xi Jinping’s regime, Chinese fighter jets have frequently entered the southwestern part of Taiwanese airspace for about a year, as China regards Taiwan as its own territory even though it has been “de facto” independent since the civil war that ended in 1949.

The last large-scale activity on June 15 involved 28 Chinese Air Force planes, the largest incursion reported by Taiwan to date.

China often sets up this type of mission to express its dissatisfaction with Taiwan’s action or international support for the democratically ruled island, in particular by the United States, Taiwan’s main supplier of arms.

It is unclear what prompted China to launch its planes this time around, although a US warship and US coast guard crossed the Taiwan Strait at the end of last month.

China has described its activities as necessary to protect the country’s sovereignty and deal with “collusion” between Taipei and Washington.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry warned last week that the Chinese threat was increasing, saying the Chinese armed forces can “cripple” Taiwan’s defenses and are able to fully monitor its deployments.

Faced with the growing threat from China, Taiwan will deploy a new defense agency in 2022 to improve the combat readiness of its military reserve force. The Defense Ministry initiative, which must be approved by lawmakers, provides funding of $ 9.3 million for the new body, which was already approved in May to overhaul the reserve preparation system.

The agency will design mobilization-related measures and coordinate with relevant authorities to create and organize a combat-ready reserve force, according to the proposal.

The close link with the American forces will also be maintained: officers will be sent on exchange and training visits, adds the budget proposal, detailed by the South China Morning Post.

According to the plan, new reservists would undergo two to two weeks of training (doubling the current tenure) and could be called in every year, instead of once every two years as before. The new policy will be implemented on a trial basis over the next two years and would come into full effect in 2024.

Tensions with China have increased in the Taiwan Strait, especially since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle. Xi Jinping’s regime has increased pressure on the autonomous island, among other things, by suspending official exchanges, organizing live-fire exercises nearby, and hunting down diplomatic allies. Meanwhile, Taiwan and the United States have moved closer in recent years, further infuriating Beijing.

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