Taiwan on Thursday said 13 Chinese jets entered its air defenseidentification zone (ADIZ), flying near a location where the US and thePhilippines are conducting joint military exercises.
Six J-16s, four J-10s, two H-6 strategic bombardment planes and a KJ-500early warning and control aircraft entered the ADIZ in the morning andevening, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ADIZ is a buffer zone outside a country’s airspace, where it hasthe right to ask incoming aircraft to identify themselves.
The ministry said the Chinese planes were given radio warnings andmonitored by military patrol planes and air defense systems.
The area of infringement was north of the island of Luzon, where 9,000soldiers from the US and the Philippines are engaged in joint exercisesthat have drawn Beijing’s ire.
As the world focuses on the Russia-Ukraine war, observers are also closelywatching China’s moves regarding Taiwan, which it claims as “a breakawayprovince.”
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Taipei, however, has insisted on its independence since 1949 and maintainsdiplomatic relations with at least 14 countries.
Tensions have been heightened since last October when Beijing celebratedits founding anniversary, and in the days that followed, numerous Chinesenumerous warplanes flew into what Taiwan calls its ADIZ.
Hectic air activity across the Taiwan Strait has continued in recentmonths, with scores of Chinese jets entering the zone and keeping Taipei onedge.
