Taiwan has reported the 21st Chinese intrusion of the month as five Peoples Liberation Army's military planes entered into its air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
Two People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-11 fighter jets, one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare plane, one Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft, and one Y-8 electronic intelligence airplane entered the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, Taiwan News reported citing the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the PLAAF planes. A total of 75 Chinese aircraft have been tracked in the identification zone so far this month, including 42 fighter jets, 2 bombers, and 31 spotter planes.
At a legislative session on Wednesday, Taiwan's Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (Qiu Guo Zheng ) briefed lawmakers on the military's moves amid increasing Chinese military aggression. Chiu said that since January, the PLAAF has already carried out over 940 incursions into the country's ADIZ.
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.
( With inputs from ANI )
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