TAIPEI, June 8 (Portal) – Taiwan activated its defense systems on Thursday after reports that 37 Chinese military planes flew into the island’s air defense zone in Beijing’s latest mass airstrike, some of which then flew to the western Pacific.
China, which regards democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, has regularly flown its air force in the skies near the island for the past three years, though not in Taiwan’s territorial airspace.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had spotted 37 Chinese Air Force aircraft, including J-11 and J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, as of 5 a.m. (9:00 p.m. GMT on Wednesday) heading into the southwestern Corner of the country flew Air Defense Identification Zone or ADIZ.
The ADIZ is a larger area that monitors and patrols Taiwan to give its forces more time to respond to threats.
Some of the Chinese planes flew to southeastern Taiwan and crossed the western Pacific Ocean to conduct “air surveillance and long-range navigation training,” the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan sent its planes and ships to stand guard and activated land-based missile systems, it added, using its standard phrase for its response to such Chinese activity.
The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China on Wednesday completed a second phase of joint air patrols with Russia over the western Pacific after conducting flights over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea the previous day, raising concerns in Japan over its national security.
Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, which manages informal relations between Washington and Taipei, is visiting Taiwan this week.
On Monday, she told Taiwanese media that the United States has an ongoing interest in maintaining cross-strait stability and that the United States will continue to arm the island, which is a source of ongoing tension in Sino-US relations .
In April, China held war games around Taiwan following a trip by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States.
Taiwan’s government has rejected China’s claims of sovereignty, saying only the islanders can decide their future.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Edited by Tom Hogue and Raju Gopalakrishnan
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