Chinese warplanes enter Taiwanese air defense area — Taipei
June 8, 2023
More than 30 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense zone on Thursday, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said.
The warplanes did not enter Taiwan's territorial airspace. China claims the self-governing island as part of its own territory and often conducts military exercises nearby.
Taiwanese Defense Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said that Chinese warplanes began entering Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) at 5 a.m. local time (2100 GMT). In total, 37 aircraft took part in the mission, the ministry said.
"Some continued… towards the Western Pacific for long-range reconnaissance training," he said.
The ministry said that Taiwan is "monitoring the situation closely."
It said that Taiwan had sent aircraft and ships to keep watch and activated land-based missile systems.
Chinese drills in the Pacific
Taiwan's ADIZ is not the same as its territorial airspace but instead is self-declared airspace that is monitored for national security purposes.
China has increasingly made incursions into areas Taiwan claims as part of its ADIZ, with the largest mission this year occurring on April 9. The drills followed a visit by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States.
The area claimed by Taiwan as its ADIZ is much larger than its airspace, and overlaps with Beijing's ADIZ, including parts of the Chinese mainland. Taipei monitors and patrols the area to give its forces more time to respond to threats.
On Wednesday, the United States, the Philippines and Japan completed joint coastguard drills in the South China Sea, most of which Beijing lays claim to.
On the same day, China completed a second phase of joint air patrols with Russia over the Western Pacific.
Earlier this week, South Korea scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes entered its ADIZ.
sdi/lo (AFP, Reuters)