4 Chinese warplanes enter Taiwan air defence zone
Sep 20, 2021
Taipei [Taiwan], September 20 : Four Chinese military planes entered Taiwan air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, marking the 17th intrusion this month.
Two People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ on Sunday morning, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND).
Later on Sunday, another Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane was tracked in the zone, also in the southwestern corner.
In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the PLAAF planes.
Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its grey-zone tactics by regularly sending planes into Taiwan's ADIZ, with most instances occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually consisting of one to three slow-flying turboprop planes.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.
On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.
