In yet another incursion amid heightened tensions in Taiwan Strait, a Chinese military plane entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday.
A single People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan dispatched fighter jets, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defence missile systems to track the PLAAF aircraft.
So far this month, Beijing has sent aircraft into Taiwan's identification zone on May 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11, all consisting of slow-flying turboprops, Taiwan News reported.
Air defence identification zones are early warning systems that help countries detect incursions into their airspace.
Any aircraft entering such an area is supposed to report its route and purpose to the "host" nation, though the zones are classified as international airspace and pilots are not legally bound to make such a notification.
Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its gray-zone tactics by regularly sending planes into Taiwan's ADIZ, with most instances occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually consisting of one to three slow-flying turboprop planes.
Over the past few months, Taiwan has reported incursion by Chinese warplanes into ADIZ almost daily.
Last month, Taiwanese premier Su Tseng-chang termed the incursion by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADZ) as "unnecessary" and "thoughtless".
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.
( With inputs from ANI )
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