The incursions have been concentrated in
the southwestern part of taiwan's air
defense zone. the latest mission on monday involved 14 J-16 and four J-10 fighter jets and four
h-6k bombers which can carry nuclear
weapons. Two anti-submarine aircraft and an early
warning aircraft also took part, taiwan's
defense minister said.
Missile systems were also deployed to
monitor the chinese vessels as the
aircraft flew in an area close to
thailand's prada's islands, according to
the defense ministry. It came just three days after the u.s
issued new guidelines that will deepen
its ties with taiwan. The latest guidelines from the u.s state
department will mean american officials
can meet more freely with their
taiwanese counterparts.
America like most countries has no
formal diplomatic ties with taiwan but
it has watched on his tensions between
beijing and the island nation have
stepped up in recent years. Washington's secretary of state Anthony Blinken said last friday that the u.s is
concerned about china's aggressive
actions against taiwan and warned it
would be a serious mistake, for anyone to
try to change the status quo in the
western pacific by force.
Mr Blinken's statement came after taiwan
scrambled an aircraft to broadcast a
warning message after 12 chinese jets
flew over its airspace. The tense start to 2021 comes after a
report released by a government-backed
think tank found that china made a
record 380 incursions into taiwan's
defense zone last year. China describes taiwan as its most
sensitive territorial issue and a red
line the u.s should not cross. Beijing
sees the island as a breakaway province
that will one day become part of the
country again. it has never renounced the possible use
of force to bring about eventual
unification.
However taiwanese people see themselves
an independent state and the dispute
with their giant neighbor has left
relations frayed with the constant
threat of violence. China has in the past described its
missions as being to protect the
country's sovereignty and deal with
collusion between taipei and washington.
Taiwan's foreign minister joseph wu has
previously said the country will fight
to the very last day if china attacks. More widely china continues to exercise
its muscle in the south china sea. Over the weekend military activity near
the philippines spiked as a chinese
aircraft carrier entered the region and
the u.s military is preparing joint
drills with the philippine military
nearby.
