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FILE PHOTO: Taiwanese domestically built Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF) take part in the live-fire, anti-landing Han Kuang military exercise REUTERS/Ann Wang |
Taiwan scrambled fighter jets on Friday as 18 Chinese aircraft buzzed the island, including crossing the sensitive mid-line of the Taiwan Strait, in an escalation of tensions as a senior U.S. official held talks in Taipei.
China had earlier announced the start of combat drills near the Taiwan Strait, denouncing what it called collusion between the island, which it claims as part of its territory, and the United States.
U.S. Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach arrived in Taipei on Thursday for a three-day visit, the most senior State Department official to come to Taiwan in four decades โ which China had said would prompt a โnecessary responseโ.
Beijing has watched with growing alarm the ever-closer relationship between Taipei and Washington, and has stepped up military exercises near the island, including two days of large-scale air and sea drills last week.
With a U.S. presidential election looming in November, Sino-U.S. relations are under huge strain from a trade war, U.S. digital security concerns and the coronavirus pandemic.
Taiwan said 18 Chinese aircraft were involved on Friday, a far larger number than it has previously announced for such encounters.
โSep. 18, two H-6 bombers, eight J-16 fighters, four J-10 fighters and four J-11 fighters crossed the midline of the TaiwanStrait and entered Taiwanโs southwest ADIZ,โ the defence ministry said in an English-language tweet.
โROCAF scrambled fighters, and deployed air defence missile system to monitor the activities.โ The ROCAF, Taiwanโs air force, has scrambled frequently in recent months in response to Chinese intrusions.
The ministry showed a map of the flight paths of Chinese jets crossing the Taiwan Strait mid-line, which normally combat aircraft from both sides avoid passing through.
Taiwanโs Liberty Times newspaper said Taiwan air force jets had scrambled 17 times on Friday morning over four hours, warning Chinaโs air force to stay away.
It also showed a picture of missiles being loaded onto an F-16 fighter at the Hualien air base on Taiwanโs east coast.
โREASONABLE, NECESSARY ACTIONโ
In Beijing, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said Fridayโs manoeuvres, about which he gave no details, involved the Peopleโs Liberation Armyโs eastern theatre command.
โThey are a reasonable, necessary action aimed at the current situation in the Taiwan Strait and protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity,โ Ren said.
He said Taiwan was a purely internal Chinese affair and accused its ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of stepping up โcollusionโ with the United States.
Trying to โuse Taiwan to control Chinaโ or โrely on foreigners to build oneself upโ was wishful thinking and futile. โThose who play with fire will get burnt,โ Ren said
Taiwanโs presidential office urged China to exercise restraint, and urged the Taiwanese not to be alarmed, saying the military had a grasp on the situation.
Hu Xijin, editor of Chinaโs widely read state-backed Global Times tabloid, wrote on his Weibo microblog that the drills were preparation for an attack on Taiwan should the need arise, and that they enabled intelligence-gathering about Taiwanโs defence systems.
โIf the U.S. secretary of state or defence secretary visits Taiwan, Peopleโs Liberation Army fighters should fly over Taiwan island, and directly exercise in the skies above it,โ he added.
Chinese fighter jets briefly crossed the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait last month as the U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar was in Taipei, and last week China carried out two days of large-scale drills off Taiwanโs southwestern coast.
The United States, like most countries, has official ties only with China, not Taiwan, though Washington is the islandโs main arms supplier and most important international backer.
This week, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations had lunch with Taiwanโs top envoy in New York. Chinaโs U.N. mission said it had lodged โstern representationsโ over the meeting.
REUTERS