Dozens of Chinese combat planes have been detected in the last twenty-four hours around Taiwan, the island state’s defense ministry said on Tuesday, September 19, which called on Beijing to end its “provocative actions”. These outings come the day after Taipei announced that China had flown 103 warplanes in twenty-four hours, from Sunday to Monday morning, around Taiwan, which, according to the island’s authorities, constitutes a record over the recent period.
Between Monday and Tuesday morning, China flew 55 planes and sailed seven warships around the island, according to Taiwan, which has accused China of carrying out “provocative actions” which lead “a rise in tensions and a deterioration in regional security”. About half of the 55 warplanes detected crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from China, and entered the southwest and southeast air defense identification zone (ADIZ). southeast of the island, according to Taipei.
“Destructive unilateral actions”
Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory, which it could one day seize, and has stepped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taipei in recent years. On Monday, Taiwan urged China to “immediately cease these destructive unilateral actions”. Beijing had not commented on the sorties of its planes on Monday, but its spokesperson Mao Ning had reaffirmed Beijing’s position that Taiwan belongs to China, adding that “the so-called middle line does not exist”.
The ADIZ, not to be confused with a country’s airspace, encompasses a much wider area in which any foreign aircraft is supposed to announce itself to local air authorities. Taiwan’s ADIZ partially overlaps that of China and even includes a portion of the continent.