Chinese fighter jets encroach numerous times close to Taiwan’s airspace

(Worthy News) – The Chinese government sent fighter jets from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) to fly threateningly close to Taiwan’s airspace on eight separate occasions Monday, CNS News reports. Taiwan’s foreign ministry has said Beijing may be taking advantage of the US election to place further pressure on the island it says is a rebel province.

According to the Taiwanese defense ministry, the jets that flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) were six fighter planes, a Shaanxi Y-8 tactical reconnaissance aircraft, and a Shaanxi Y-8 maritime patrol plane, CNS News said.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told lawmakers Monday that China may seek to use the uncertainties surrounding America’s November 3 election to put pressure on the island, CNS News reports. Nevertheless, Wu affirmed that Taiwan remained confident the US will keep or even boost its military presence in the region. “Taiwan and the U.S. continue to remain in close communication to ensure there is enough intelligence and time for proactive and sufficient responses against such threats,” Wu said.

Concurring with Wu’s analysis of China’s intentions, Hudson Institute senior fellow Seth Cropsey warned that Taiwan may be vulnerable during the time of the US election. “America’s partisan enmity has become so intense that any result in November will be contested; a country embroiled in a succession crisis is much less likely to intervene in a high-end great-power conflict,” Cropsey said. “There may never be a better moment for China to strike than the week of November 3.”

On Thursday Chinese defense ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian said at a briefing: “I want to warn those Taiwan independence secessionist forces that there is no way out for confrontation, and seeking Taiwan independence with force is a dead-end road.”

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