The Ministry of National Defense (MND) made no comment yesterday on a report Saturday by China's Liberation Army Daily (解放軍報) newspaper which claimed that a squadron of fighter planes from Taiwan had attempted to cross the dividing line in the Taiwan Strait and approach China in mid-July.
MND spokesman Major General Kung Fan-ding (孔繁定) said yesterday morning that everything the MND does is for Taiwan's own good and in order to effectively protect the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.
Kung did not, however, respond directly to the report and simply said that Taiwan's military has the capacity to supervise its territory without any difficulty.
According to the Liberation Army Daily report, a squadron of F-16s and locally made Indigenous Defense Fighters (經國號) from the Sungshan and Chiayi air bases crossed the center line of the Taiwan Strait when they were spotted by Chinese radar systems.
Fighter planes from China were immediately scrambled but the opposing sides did not engage each other. The Taiwan planes turned back shortly after more Chinese aircraft arrived.
The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao (
Beijing military experts believe that Taiwan was actually testing the Chinese army's latest air defense system. "It was not wise and might have lead to a war," analysts were quoted as saying.
However, they also said that perhaps the Taiwan air force was demonstrating its capacity for "offshore engagement."
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