China has made its second-largest incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone this year, as Taipei signalled it planned to deepen security ties with the United States.
Taipei, May 30 (CNA) Thirty Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, the second-highest single-day total this year, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
The aircraft consisted of: two KJ-500 airborne early warning and control planes, four Y-8 electronic signals intelligence aircraft, one Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane, six Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, eight Shenyang J-11 fighter jets, four Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, two Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, and two Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jets, according to the MND.
In response, Taiwan scrambled a combat air patrol, sent radio warnings, and deployed defense missile systems to track the Chinese military planes, the MND said.
Taiwan’s defense ministry has been publishing information about such flights since Sept. 17, 2020, amid a rising number of intrusions into the nation’s ADIZ by Chinese military planes.
The highest number of incursions reported this year was 39, on Jan. 23, MND data showed.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said that 30 Chinese military aircraft, two-thirds of them fighter jets, entered the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday and that it had scrambled its own air force and deployed air defence missile systems in response.
The incursion was the biggest since January when Beijing sent 39 aircraft into the ADIZ. Earlier this month, it sent 18 warplanes into the area.
Although the US has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, it is the island’s most prominent international supporter and supplier of weapons, and follows what it calls a policy of “strategic ambiguity“.
Following the latest incursion, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday said there were plans for “cooperation” between the Taiwan military and the US National Guard.
Meeting visiting US Senator Tammy Duckworth at her office in Taipei, Tsai noted that Duckworth was one of the main sponsors of the Taiwan Partnership Act.
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