Issued on: 03/08/2022 – 17:03Altered: 03/08/2022 – 17:09
China showed its outrage at the US’s highest visit to the island in 25 years by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a spate of military exercises around Taiwan, summoning the US ambassador to Beijing and several agricultural imports. of the island were discontinued.
In the latest upsurge in tensions in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, Taiwan said it has sent planes and deployed missile systems to “monitor” Chinese activities in its Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has been complaining in recent years about repeated Chinese air force missions near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of ADIZ.
The latest Chinese mission involved 16 Chinese Su-30 fighters and 11 other jets, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.
A source familiar with Taiwan’s security planning told Reuters that the 22 jets crossing the median line did not fly too far into the unofficial buffer from the Chinese side.
This infographic map shows the areas where China is conducting military exercises around Taiwan. © France 24 infographic
Aircraft from neither side normally cross the center line. Earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan said some of China’s planned military exercises this week would take place within Taiwan’s 12-mile sea and air territory, an unprecedented move that a senior defense official described as “representing a naval and air blockade of Taiwan.” .
China has stepped up military and political pressure to try to force the island to accept Chinese rule. Taiwan rejects China’s claims to the island and promises to defend itself.
(REUTERS)