Global Courant
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan activated its defense systems on Thursday after reports that 37 Chinese military aircraft flew into the island’s air defense zone, some of which then flew into the western Pacific, during Beijing’s latest massive airstrike.
China, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, has regularly launched its air force near the island, but not in Taiwan’s territorial airspace, for the past three years.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had detected 37 Chinese air force aircraft, including J-11 and J-16 fighters and nuclear-armed H-6 bombers, as of 05:00 (21:00 GMT) flying over the southwestern corner of his country. air defense identification zone, or ADIZ.
The ADIZ is a wider area that Taiwan monitors and patrols to give its armed forces more time to respond to threats.
Some of the Chinese aircraft flew to southeastern Taiwan and crossed over to the western Pacific to conduct “air surveillance and long-range navigation training,” the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan sent its planes and ships to keep watch and activated land-based missile systems, it added, using standard wording for how it responds to such Chinese activities.
China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China completed a second phase of joint air patrols with Russia over the Western Pacific on Wednesday, following flights the previous day over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, raising national security concerns in Japan.
Laura Rosenberger, president of the American Institute in Taiwan, which manages the unofficial relationship between Washington and Taipei, is visiting Taiwan this week.
On Monday, she told Taiwanese media that the United States had an ongoing interest in maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait and that the United States would continue to arm the island, a source of continued friction in China-US ties.
In April, China held war games around Taiwan following a trip to the United States by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Taiwan’s government rejects China’s claims of sovereignty, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Tom Hogue and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
