Nineteen Chinese planes entered TaiwanThe airspace of AUKUS is increasing tensions in the region in the wake of the submarine deal.
Taipei said 14 fighter jets, including 12 J-16s and two J-11s, entered its air defense area on Thursday morning.
The country’s defense ministry said the fighters were accompanied by two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, a Y-8 aircraft with ‘electronic warfare’ equipment and two Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft.
Fighter jets were scrambled to turn the plane back, while radio warnings were also broadcast and missile defense systems were activated to monitor the situation.
China often flies such missions, but they have acquired new importance in the wake of the Aukas deal.
Taiwan is a close ally of the US, which means Britain and Australia can now be dragged into any future conflict with China because of a defense deal.
China has flown 19 aircraft over Taiwan’s airspace, including 14 fighters and two nuclear-capable bombers, in one of the largest flights in months.
Two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers took part in the sortie, before flying south of the island of Taiwan and flying back to China (file image)
Flight tracking data published by Taiwan shows that the J-16 and J-11 fighters flew a short distance in the ADIZ before turning back.
Meanwhile bombers, electronic warfare and anti-submarine aircraft completed a circuit around the southern tip of Taiwan before turning back.
The island’s government has complained of repeated missions by China’s air force near its borders, often in the southwestern part of its air defense area close to Taiwan-controlled Pratas Island.
Defense ministry data shows China has flown aircraft into Taiwan’s defense sector every day this month except on September 2.
Most missions involve only a small number of aircraft, making Thursday’s sortie exceptional for its size.
There have been only two comparable missions in recent months, one on 5 September involving 19 aircraft and another on 15 June involving 28.
Self-governing Taiwan, home of the Republic of China, which previously fought against the Communist Party, sees itself as an independent state but Beijing sees it as a separate province.
It has longstanding ties with the US, which has historically recognized it as China’s legitimate government.
Tensions are rising around the island as President Xi Jinping vowed in 2019 to ‘reconnect’ Taiwan with the Chinese mainland, using force if necessary.
Twelve J-16 (pictured) and two J-11 fighters also took part in the mission, one of the largest to be flown in recent months.
The standoff entered a new phase last week when Australia, the UK and the US announced a new defense agreement to share military technology that would include giving Australia its first fleet of nuclear submarines.
Beijing reacted angrily to the agreement, denouncing the “cold war mentality” of the Allies, warning that it could jeopardize stability in the region and make Australia the target of a nuclear attack.
Shortly after the announcement of the alliance, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton acknowledged that a war with China was possible – with Taiwan likely to be the flashpoint.
The deal is about achieving ‘peace’ in the region, Mr Dutton insisted, but added that the odds of conflict with China ‘should not be discounted’.
‘The Chinese… are very clear about their intentions on Taiwan’ [and] The United States is very clear about its intentions towards Taiwan,’ he said.
‘No one wants to see conflict, but it’s really a question for the Chinese.’
The incident came a day after Taiwan proposed an additional $9 billion in defense spending over the next five years, including new missiles, warning of an urgent need to upgrade weapons in the face of a “grave threat” from China.
Earlier on Friday, Taiwan’s Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang said that the government should take China’s threat seriously.
“The Chinese Communists continue to conspire against us,” he said.
Taiwan’s defense spending is based on ‘protecting national sovereignty, national security and national security’. We should not rest. We should have the best preparation so that there is no war’, he said.
China’s government, for its part, criticized Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Friday for comments this week in which he said Taiwan was a ‘sea fortress’ that was blocking China’s expansion into the Pacific.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement that Wu’s “purpose is to deceive public opinion, associate with and collusion with foreign forces anti-China”.
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