China on Sunday sent 39 warplanes — mostly fighter jets — into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), in its second-largest single-day incursion, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Thirteen warplanes entered the zone yesterday, it added.
The ministry late on Sunday said that the air force scrambled aircraft to broadcast warnings and deployed air-defense missile systems.
Photo: AP
The Chinese warplanes included 24 J-16 fighters — which experts say are among China’s favorite jets for testing Taiwan’s air defenses — 10 J-10s and one nuclear-capable H-6 bomber.
Yesterday’s incursion included eight J-16s and two J-16Ds — a jet introduced at an air show last year that is capable of neutralizing radar and communication systems, the ministry said.
On Oct. 4 last year, 56 aircraft entered the zone, the largest single-day incursion since the military began releasing such data in September 2020.
Last year, the ministry recorded 969 incursions by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan’s ADIZ, a database compiled by Agence France-Presse showed — more than double the number from 2020.
Yesterday, defense expert Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑) said that Beijing was trying to show its military might to world powers Japan and the US, which over the weekend concluded a round of drills off Okinawa.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), an associate research fellow at the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, agreed, saying that the incursions did not pose a serious threat to Taiwan’s security, but were intended to show Tokyo and Washington that Beijing would not back down from a show of force.
The incursions were also far away from Okinawa to ensure that China gets its message across without sparking a conflict, he said.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted joint exercises with the US Navy south of Okinawa from Monday last week to Saturday, NHK reported.
The latest joint exercise was apparently aimed at displaying their solid ties amid China’s increasing maritime activities, reports said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said in an interview with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s podcast The Bigger Picture that the international community should be vigilant of China as it seeks to expand its global influence.
Amid China’s nearly 1,000 incursions last year, Beijing continued to suppress Taiwan’s international presence, a ministry statement quoted Wu as saying.
China’s ambition apparently does not stop at Taiwan, Wu added, citing as an example the presence of Chinese surveillance ships near US-Australian military exercises in July last year.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS