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A total of 37 Chinese military aircraft, including nuclear bombers, raided the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone. Photo/REUTERS
TAIPEI – A total of 37 military aircraft, including nuclear bombers, China storming the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) Taiwan, Thursday (8/6/2023).
The mass attack of the aircraft forced Taipei to activate its defense system.
China, which views democratically self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, has for the past three years regularly flown its Air Force planes into the skies near the island, though not over Taiwan’s territorial airspace.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that as of 5:00 a.m. it had detected 37 Chinese Air Force aircraft, including J-11 and J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, flying into the western corner of the ADIZ.
The ADIZ is the larger area that Taiwan monitors and patrols to give its troops more time to respond to threats.
“Several Chinese aircraft flew southeast of Taiwan and crossed into the western Pacific to carry out aerial surveillance and long-range navigation exercises,” Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a brief statement.
“Taiwan also sent planes and ships to keep watch and activate the land-based missile system,” the ministry continued, using standard words to respond to such Chinese activity.
China’s Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China completed the second phase of joint air patrols with Russia in the western Pacific on Wednesday, following flights the previous day over the Seas of Japan and East China Sea, sparking concerns in Japan over national security.
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 and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
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