Taiwan‘s Ministry of National Defense said Monday, Feb. 1, that six Chinese Communist Party fighter jets, one Chinese Communist Party reconnaissance aircraft and one U.S. reconnaissance aircraft entered the air defense identification zone in southern Taiwan on Sunday, Jan. 31. This is the first Time Taiwan has mentioned the entry of U.S. forces into its air defense identification zone.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said on January 1 that a total of seven Chinese communist fighter jets entered the air defense identification zone in southern Taiwan on January 31, including two J-10 fighter jets, four J-11 fighter jets and one Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft; while a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft was present in the same area, but Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense did not provide information on the type of U.S. fighter jets and their routes. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has always announced the types and routes of Chinese communist warplanes.
The Chinese Communist military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone at a time when the U.S. aircraft carrier group USS Roosevelt was conducting exercises in the South China Sea region, a routine U.S. deployment.
This is the first mention of U.S. military aircraft entering its air defense identification zone since Taiwan began daily reporting on the incursion by Chinese Communist Party military aircraft in mid-September. According to Reuters, the situation in the Taiwan Strait has been tense since several Chinese Communist Party fighter jets and bombers flew into the air defense identification zone in southern Taiwan last weekend, with increasingly frequent harassment by Chinese warplanes.
Taiwan rarely mentions U.S. military operations publicly, often only when U.S. warships cross the Taiwan Strait; but diplomatic or security sources say there are frequent U.S. air and naval operations near the island.
Like most countries, the United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but it is Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier.
Last week the Chinese Communist Party stepped up military operations against Taiwan and warned that “independence is a declaration of war” and that its armed forces would act in response to “provocations and foreign intervention.
The Chinese Communist Party believes Taiwan’s democratically elected Tsai Ing-wen government is interested in independence, and President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly called Taiwan itself an independent country under the name “Republic of China.
Recent Comments