Taiwan records 600 Chinese sorties in its air defence zone

Taiwan has recorded more than 600 Chinese sorties into its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) so far this year.

Chinese military aircraft started flying into Taiwan's ADIZ in March 2019, as per a report submitted to the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday.

There were 380 incursions in the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, Taiwan News reported.

Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its grey-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.

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.

On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.

( With inputs from ANI )

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