Worthy Christian News > World News > China sends 39 military planes into Taiwan’s defense zone in one day

China sends 39 military planes into Taiwan’s defense zone in one day

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – China flew 39 warplanes, including 24 J-16 fighter jets, 10 J-10 jets, and other military aircraft, into Taiwan’s air defense zone on Sunday, the Washington Times reports. The Taiwanese claimed sovereign independence from China after a civil war that ended in 1949, but the Chinese regime has refused to accept this and considers Taiwan to be part of mainland China.

Sunday’s incursion was the second-largest in an 18-month long pattern of similar sorties that China has conducted toward Taiwan on an almost daily basis, the Times reports. The largest sortie was 56 jets on one day in October last year.

CBS News reported that it was not clear why China had sent such a large number of planes on Sunday. China sent a further 13 warplanes toward Taiwan on Monday, CBS News said.

As it has done in response to previous Chinese sorties, Taiwan scrambled Taiwan’s own jets and tracked China’s planes on its air defense radar systems, the Times reports.

Tensions between Beijing and the Taiwanese have intensified since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president of Taiwan in 2016. While Ing-wen promised to work within China’s governing framework, she also vowed to preserve “freedom and democracy” for Taiwanese citizens. The Chinese communist regime cut communications with the Taiwanese government in response to Ing-wen’s election.