Taiwan scrambles fighters as Chinese jets again fly near island

Published September 19, 2020
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, US Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company founder Morris Chang attend a banquet for the US delegation in Taipei, Taiwan Sept 18. — Reuters
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, US Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company founder Morris Chang attend a banquet for the US delegation in Taipei, Taiwan Sept 18. — Reuters

Taiwan’s air force scrambled jets for a second consecutive day on Saturday as multiple Chinese aircraft approached the island and crossed the sensitive midline of the Taiwan Strait, with the island’s government urging Beijing to “pull back from the edge”.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said 19 Chinese aircraft were involved, one more than in the previous day, with some crossing the Taiwan Strait midline and others flying into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone off its southwest coast.

It said China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory, sent 12 J-16 fighters, two J-10 fighters, two J-11 fighters, two H-6 bombers and one Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft. According to a map the ministry provided, none got close to mainland Taiwan itself or flew over it.

“ROCAF scrambled fighters, and deployed air defence missile system to monitor the activities,” the ministry said in a tweet, referring to the Republic of China Air Force, the formal name of Taiwan’s air force.

Taiwan has complained of repeated incidents of Chinese aircraft near the island this year, and has regularly had to scramble its F-16s and other jets to intercept them.

China had on Friday announced, at a news conference in Beijing about China’s UN peacekeeping efforts, combat drills near the Taiwan Strait and denounced what it called collusion between the island and the United States.

US 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, angering China. He left Saturday afternoon, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry.

'Pull back from the edge'

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry, in a separate statement, said China was carrying out provocative activities, seriously damaging peace and stability.

“The Defence Ministry sternly condemns this, and calls on the mainland authorities to control themselves and pull back from the edge.”

China’s widely read state-backed tabloid the Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, said in a Saturday editorial that Friday’s drills were a rehearsal to take over Taiwan.

“The US and Taiwan must not misjudge the situation, or believe the exercise is a bluff. Should they continue to make provocations, a war will inevitably break out,” it said.

Both sides need to resume dialogue to reduce the risk of war, Johnny Chiang, leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party the Kuomintang, wrote on his Facebook page.

“People who are willing to play a communication role are stigmatised and people who clamour for war are regarded as heroes. Such an atmosphere is definitely not conducive to the peaceful and stable development of the Taiwan Strait,” said Chiang, whose party traditional favours close ties with China.

Life has continued as normal in Taiwan with no sign of panic. The island has long been accustomed to living with Chinese threats.

Taiwan’s people have shown no interest in being ruled by autocratic China, re-electing President Tsai Ing-wen in a landslide last year on what was largely a platform of standing up to Beijing. The latest Chinese flights came the same day Taiwan held a memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui, dubbed “Mr Democracy” for ending autocratic rule in favour of free elections and championing Taiwan’s separate identity from China.

Lee, who died in July, became Taiwan’s first democratically elected president in March 1996 after eight months of intimidating war games and missile tests by China in waters around the island.

Those events brought China and Taiwan to the verge of conflict, prompting the United States to send an aircraft carrier task force to the area in a warning to Beijing’s government.

Opinion

Revival? For whom?

Revival? For whom?

Numerous sets of numbers, not quoted by govt sources, suggest that things are not as dazzling as claimed by those who run the country.

Editorial

Premature alarm
Updated 20 Feb, 2025

Premature alarm

Improvement in headline inflation gives policymakers chance to fix investment policies, implement structural reforms.
Forsaken province
20 Feb, 2025

Forsaken province

AND the endless cycle of violence continues. The brutal killing on Tuesday night of seven Punjab-bound passengers in...
In poor health
20 Feb, 2025

In poor health

THE absence of decent and affordable healthcare in the country continues to ruin lives. An example of this is ...
Out of control
Updated 19 Feb, 2025

Out of control

AS bodies continue to fall in Kurram despite a state-sanctioned ceasefire, one wonders how long local militants’...
Hollow words
19 Feb, 2025

Hollow words

IT is not uncommon for politicians to resort to the use of hyperbole in order to boost their public standing. ...
Migration matters
19 Feb, 2025

Migration matters

THE grass, it seems, did appear greener on the other side to millions of people as evidenced by the latest UN ...