Taiwan Deploys Warplanes To Warn Off Chinese Jets Entering Air Zone

Taiwan dispatched fighter jets to scare away 29 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defense zone, including bombers that went south of the island into the Pacific.

According to Taiwan's defense ministry, the most recent Chinese mission included 17 fighters, six H-6 bombers, electronic warfare, early warning, anti-submarine, and an aerial refueling aircraft.

The entry by Chinese airplanes on Tuesday is the most recent escalation in tensions between Taipei and Beijing and is China's largest violation of Taiwan's air defense zone since late May.

The ministry stated, in customary response language, that Taiwan had dispatched fighter aircraft to deter the Chinese jets and that missile systems had been deployed to monitor their flight path.

Taiwan, a self-governed island that China claims as its own territory, has protested for more than two years about recurrent Chinese air force flights in the southern portion of its air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, near to the Pratas Islands, which are administered by Taiwan.

According to a map released by the defense ministry, some Chinese aircraft flew in an area to the northeast of the Pratas.

It was the largest air zone incursion since 30 Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan's ADIZ on May 30. This year's largest incident included 39 airplanes and happened in January.

The bombers, followed by an electronic warfare and intelligence-gathering aircraft, flew into the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan and the Philippines, and then into the Pacific before turning around and returning to China.

There was no immediate response from China, which has stated in the past that such actions were meant to safeguard the nation's sovereignty.

The Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, was launched on Friday and named after the province bordering Taiwan.

Taiwan refers to China's military actions as "gray zone" warfare, as they are aimed to both exhaust Taiwanese forces by forcing them to continually scramble and to gauge Taiwanese responses.

China's military staged an exercise surrounding Taiwan last month as a "solemn warning" against the democratically governed island's "collusion" with the United States, according to the Chinese government.

This occurred after United States President Joe Biden appeared to suggest a change in Washington's policy of "strategic ambiguity" on Taiwan by stating that the US would become militarily involved if China attacked Taiwan.

China's intrusions into the ADIZ increased dramatically in the fourth quarter of 2021, with the largest single-day invasion occurring on October 4, when 56 Chinese jets entered the zone.