In the latest addition to air incursions 18 war planes were flown into Taiwan’s air defence zone
On Friday,18 warplanes were sent to Taiwan’s air defence zone by China. The warplanes included bombers and fighters. This is the second biggest incursion of its kind this year.
Taiwan is under the constant threat of invasion by China. China considers Taiwan as part of its territory that rightfully should be ruled by the Chinese government one day and is willing to use force to make it happen. The last six months of 2021 saw a sharp increase in air incursions by Beijing into Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). The biggest such breach in a single day had 56 warplanes entering the zone.
The 18 aircraft that flew into the AIDZ on Friday, included J16 and 12 J 11 fighter jets along with two H6 bombers, as per Taiwan’s Defence Ministry. In January, a fleet of 39 planes had made air incisions and as per the data, the Friday incident is the second biggest such incursion this year. The defence ministry sent its aircraft and deployed air defence missile systems. Taiwan started publishing data related to air incursions in September 2020. October 2021 had the biggest such breaches with the count of warplanes entering the AIDZ mounting up to 196. It was also during this month that China celebrated its annual National day.
Since 2016, when Tsai Ing -wen was elected as the president of Taiwan, China has increased its pressure on the island. This is due to Tasi considering Taiwan as a sovereign nation and not part of Chinese territory. The AIDZ and Taiwan’s territorial airspace are different since the territorial space is far bigger and has some regions overlapping with China’s AIDZ.
China has not commented on the latest incident yet. Previously, China has defended its various air incursions as missions to counter foreign collaborations with Taiwan and protect the sovereignty of the nation. This was in reference to US support for Taiwan. This high alert state is due to fear of invasion.
Published by – Mohit Maurya
Edited by – Architha Menon M
