Thirteen Chinese military aircraft were detected in Taiwan’s airspace on Friday, prompting the island’s authorities to deploy its air control planes and air defense systems.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said the island’s combat air patrol were deployed, “radio warnings issued and air defense missile systems deployed to monitor the activity” of thirteen Chinese aircraft spotted in the southwestern part of the air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Beijing’s planes have made frequent flybys over the island, with at least 56 detected on October 4.
This comes amid growing tensions between Beijing and Washington. China sees Taiwan as an integral part of its territory, while the US keeps flirting with the island’s independence movement. Washington has struck billion-dollar weapons contracts with Taiwan and regularly sends delegations there, while its warships make frequent appearances in the Taiwan Strait, angering Beijing.
China’s Global Times newspaper recently claimed that “if the US continues to regard the Taiwan island as a pawn to contain the Chinese mainland,” then the situation will worsen and “resolving the Taiwan question by force will become the inevitable and only choice for the Chinese mainland.”
