China has never sent as many warplanes toward Taiwan as it did over the weekend. On Friday, 39 on Saturday and 16 on Sunday, 38 military aircraft flew from China to the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Not only does the number of aircraft represent a new escalation level, but also the types of aircraft used. Two H-6 atomic bombers and anti-submarine aircraft entered the air.
The People’s Republic is causing major disruptions with flights. Above all, it is causing a stir in the United States. The US State Department was “extremely concerned” over the weekend. She said from Washington that provocative military activities are destabilizing and undermining peace and stability in the region. Taiwan will continue to receive support in its defense capabilities.
Is it just a threatening background?
There was no official statement from Beijing itself on this measure. However, Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tsing-chang made violent allegations against China. “China deliberately engages in military aggression and harms peace in the region,” he told the media over the weekend.
Military experts assume, however, that the recent muscle games in Beijing are just a threatening backdrop. Even if China strives to integrate Taiwan into the motherland, there is little to suggest that Beijing will attack the island nation in the short term. Taiwan is very difficult to capture because of its terrain and has a strong ally in the back of the United States.
Flights can be in response to sea movements
The current provocations can be understood as a response to naval maneuvers by Taiwan’s Western allies, in which the American and British associations are mainly involved.
For the first time in more than ten years, a British warship crossed the Taiwan Strait (a 180-kilometer-wide strait between China’s Fujian Province in the west and Taiwan Island in the east) claimed by China. The frigate HMS Richmond sailed in the strait on its way to Vietnam. The US Navy also regularly conducts so-called freedom of navigation exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
This provokes angry reactions from Beijing. The Chinese government claims Taiwan, the surrounding waters, and almost the entire South China Sea for itself. However, the United States and many other countries consider these areas to be international waters that must be open to all ships.
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