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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – China flew 56 fighter jets to Taiwan on Monday in the largest show of force on record, continuing the three days of sustained military harassment against the autonomous island.
The 52-plane first sortie included 34 J-16 fighter jets and 12 H-6 bombers, among other planes, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. Later, four more Chinese J-16s flew to the southwestern part of the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone – a buffer zone outside of a country’s airspace.
The Taiwanese air force has jammed its fighter jets and monitored the movement of Chinese fighter jets over its air defense system, the ministry said.
China claims that Taiwan is democratically governed as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. He refuses to recognize the island’s government and increasingly seeks to isolate the independence government of President Tsai Ing-wen.
Experts have characterized the flights and other military maneuvers in Beijing’s gray zone as war or any type of military action without direct combat. Many say they don’t believe that the show of force and aggressive rhetoric, most of which is repetitive, will lead to war.
“We are very concerned that China will launch a war against Taiwan at some point, although the threat may not be imminent at this point,” Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. aired Monday. .
Taiwan and China separated in a civil war in 1949, and Beijing opposes Taiwan’s involvement in international organizations. Taiwan announced on September 23 that it had applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a week after China submitted its own application to join the trade pact.
As of last Friday, China’s National Day, the People’s Liberation Army sent 38 fighter jets to the area and 39 jets on Saturday, previously the most in a single day since Taiwan began posting. reports on flights in September 2020. China has sent an additional 16 planes. on Sunday.
The latest maneuvers by the Chinese Air Force bring the total to 814 flights.
The number of sorties into the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone prompted a statement from US State Department spokesman Ned Price over the weekend, who warned that China’s military activity near Taiwan risked being wrong and undermining regional peace and stability.
“We urge Beijing to end its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan,” the statement said.
China’s Foreign Ministry responded on Monday, saying the US arms sale to Taiwan as well as ships navigating the Taiwan Strait were “a provocative move that has harmed US-China relations.”
“China will take all necessary countermeasures and resolutely crush any ‘Taiwan independence’ plot,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in a statement Monday evening.
The latest flights came in separate groups with daytime and nighttime incursions. Night flights are worth noting, analysts said, as they are more difficult due to reduced visibility.
“They have the kind of confidence to operate at night,” said Chen-Yi Tu, a researcher at the Taiwan National Defense and Security Research Institute.
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