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Dozens Of Chinese Jets Enter Taiwan Air Defense Zone

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

TAPEI (Worthy News) – Dozens of Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense zone Tuesday, prompting the island to scramble jets to halt China’s third largest incursion this year, Taipei said.

Taipei’s defense ministry said that “29 Chinese aircraft” — including “17 fighter jets and six bombers” — crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

There were also electronic warfare, early warning, antisubmarine, and an aerial refueling aircraft involved in the incursion, the government, explained.

Taiwan, which Communist-run China claims as its territory, has complained of repeated missions by the Chinese air force near the democratically governed island.

Chinese fighter planes often fly in the southwestern part of Taiwan’s ADIZ, close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands, officials say.

Tuesday’s massive incursion was the third-largest in 2022 after 39 jets reportedly entered the zone on January 23 and 30 jets on May 30.

BIG SPIKE

The final quarter of 2021 saw a spike in ADIZ incursions, with the most significant single-day breach on October 4, when 56 warplanes entered the zone, according to authorities.

Last year, Taiwan recorded 969 sorties by Chinese warplanes into its ADIZ, more than double the roughly 380 carried out in 2020. The figure for this year so far already exceeds 500.

The ADIZ is not the same as Taiwan’s territorial airspace and includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China’s own ADIZ, observers said.

China has increased pressure on Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president in 2016, as she considers the island a sovereign nation.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of China and has pledged to bring the island under its control, even by force if necessary.

And with the West’s attention focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, concerns remain that a war may erupt between Taiwan and China, a senior U.S. security official told Worthy News.

Taiwan calls China’s repeated nearby military activities “grey zone” warfare. The tactic is designed to both wear out Taiwanese forces by making them repeatedly scramble and also to test Taiwanese military responses, authorities say.